Duet
by drwells123
Summary: Death is not enough to break the bond between Dr. Liara T'Soni and her newly found - and lost - love. FemShep x Liara. Comments much appreciated. I'm aiming for a new chapter every Friday. Thank you for reading!
1. Chapter 1

"They're here! Get to the shelters!"

But they didn't listen. Oh, a few people, here and there, took off running toward the underground bunkers near the center of the colony, the scars of their hasty excavation still raw in the reddish soil. But more ran toward their homes, or into the thick forests just beyond the outlying buildings, or in no particular direction at all. Others stood frozen to the ground and screamed, their voices blending into the howls of the air-raid sirens, or stared mutely at the gigantic many-legged black things hanging low in the midday sky, more and more of them descending every moment.

They never listened. And now it was too late.

She sprinted for the comm shack, the door squealing open as she slapped the control. Her eyes needed a moment to adjust to the darkness inside, lit only by the huge array of screens on one wall. The comm officer sat staring at them, his mouth open slightly, his face white and taut.

"Get on the speakers. Tell the colonists to get into the shelters. And get a signal out to the fleet." Her voice was sharp, not from fear - though she was afraid - but from long experience at cutting through the fear and rage of other men and women fighting for their lives.

As they did here.

The comm officer didn't even twitch. He had headphones on, but that wouldn't keep him from hearing her. She grabbed his shoulders and spun him in his chair, shaking him with calculated roughness. She looked at his glazed eyes and then tore the headphones from his head and shoved him aside. She turned to the console as she clapped the headphones on. She'd had the basic training with -

"-TION HAS BEEN DESTROYED, ALL SHIPS THIS SECT" - a burst of static - "LAN BRAVO TWO UNTIL CENTRAL COMMAND IS RE-"

"-ousands of them they came in over New Seville and Jesus there's nothing but fires and they're heading -"

"- hear me, this is Commander John Taylor, SSV Challenger, I am in an escape pod, coordinates 033-1-"

"- on you sons of bitches, you want some of this, come on, I - NNNNGGGG...I...I - "

She worked the controls, her fingers calm and assured, trying to find either the public-address system or the interstellar channels, whichever came up first -

The explosion in the closed space made her jump, her pistol in her hand and aimed before her feet came back to the ground. The comm officer toppled from his chair, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling, a smoking pistol in his right hand and his blood already beginning to trickle down the wall behind him.

"Jesus." She turned back to the console, already shoving it from her mind, then glanced up at the screens.

Every one was filled with them. Hundreds of them, some so large that she could see the lights that crisscrossed them, like flying cities.

(our numbers will darken the sky of every world)

And in her mind's eye, she could see them, endless oceans of black locusts, blotting out the suns of Thessia, of Palaven, of Earth. Leaving nothing in their wake.

As they did here.

High overhead, the four ships assigned to patrol this sector - it was an important one - were already wreckage, their funeral pyres flickering silently into the empty night. One of them - she couldn't tell which at this distance - was the Normandy. The attack had caught Shepard planetside, on a routine inspection tour, and there hadn't even been time to call the ship. Joker, Chakwas, Williams, all of them were gone, then.

Another explosion rocked the ground under her feet. On one screen, the colony's main defense battery vanished in a pillar of white flame, engulfing the ten-thousand-year-old trees encircling it and adding to the shroud of black smoke that seemed to billow to the horizons.

On another screen, she watched an elderly lady herding a double file of children toward one of the shelters. None of them was older than six - they must have been her kindergarten class - but they trooped along together, just as they'd been taught, even as adults ran screaming around them. One little girl clutched what looked like a teddy bear to her chest. The first of them were almost to the huge open permafab door of the shelter when a vast black shadow swept over them. The screen abruptly winked out and the shrieks stopped.

One by one, the others followed it.

She took the headphones from her head and set them down. There was no point in calling for help - there was no world left out there to send it. She closed her eyes for a moment. She was the only one who knew - really knew - about the Reapers. The Protheans, even as everything they knew was collapsing around them, had managed to send a warning. That must have been the one cold comfort they took to their deaths - that, millenia later, some species they had never seen, from some planet they had never charted, might find a way to break the cycle of genocide, and give thanks they would never hear.

And she was the one. And she had failed to make the galaxy listen. And condemned everything and everyone.

Her mouth set in a flat line. There was one thing she could still do. One thing she still had left. Only duty had kept her away this long.

Outside, the world had turned red and dark. She ran one way, then another, trying to look everywhere at once among the hurricane of flames and debris.

"Liara!"

She shouted it until her throat was raw. The stinking black smoke enveloped her. Her eyes streamed and her lungs fought for air. A tremendous blast picked her up and slammed her to the ground. Clumps of dirt and tiny chunks of rock pattered over her, around her. She was on her feet again in an instant, tasting blood. The screaming and the explosions had receded into the far distance. She shouted Liara's name again, but she couldn't hear herself.

And every person running or staggering or crawling had a blue skin that shone even through the fiery haze. And every time Kate got close to one of them, the woman would turn out to have the wrong face - too old, too young, with markings... For the first time since the attack had started, panic began to engulf her. She lost track of where she had been already, and kept coming back to the same places, finding the same people - the wrong people - again and again.

Then she tripped over something and sprawled in the dirt. Crawling, she turned to look. Relief swept her as she saw it wasn't Liara. The corpse wore a black beret. The face was somehow undimmed, exuberant. Then the blue eyes moved.

"I was young," he said.

"I'm sorry, Jenkins," she whispered. She closed his eyes and got back on her feet. "But I can't help you now. I can still help her."

As she turned away, he said, "I understand, Commander." The voice was different now. "I don't regret a thing."

Then the huge glowing white eyes, dozens of them, blazed out of the fog in front of her, bathing her in blinding light, and she knew it was over. She'd have unslung her rifle and emptied it into them - if she'd thought it would do any good. To her surprise, she felt no fear at all. There was only the crushing sadness that she would never see her love, her Liara, again. She held her hands out, filthy and bloody. "Please, just a little more time, just give me more time to - "

"Kate. Kate!" Liara shook her awake.

Kate groaned and closed her eyes again. The crisp blue bed sheet was wrapped about her naked body and soaked with sweat.

"It is all right. I am here." Liara was already sitting up, propped against a couple of pillows. The diffuse light of the Presidium's early day cast shadows of her on the wall. Her hand rested on Kate's bare shoulder and squeezed. "I am here."

A smile tugged at Kate's gently pouting mouth. "And I'm glad you are."

Liara's lips, a shade darker than the rest of her, and her eyes, a shade lighter, smiled back. It was a smile of innocent happiness that had been hidden away for too long, a smile without cynicism or world-weariness. Kate had seen a lot of it over the past few weeks, and she liked it more every time.

Kate blew a strand of reddish-brown hair out of one wide, almond-shaped blue eye. "I must look great." She was still a little self-conscious about the fact that she woke up with her hair either flat against her head or going every which way, and her skin seeming even fairer than usual, whereas Liara had the kind of fresh beauty that never needed makeup.

Liara's long, slim fingers reached out and combed through Kate's hair, down to the back of her neck, where it ended. Kate closed her eyes and smiled, her skin prickling with pleasure at the feel of Liara's fingernails. "You always do. But that is not why I care for you," Liara's voice said, and again, Kate knew there was no artifice in it. She relaxed into Liara's touch as if sinking into a warm bath.

"It was the dream again," Liara said.

Kate's eyes opened a little. "Yeah."

"I felt it." Liara said. "I can see why it comes today."

Her fingers were still running through Kate's hair and it took a moment for Kate to understand. "Wait...you felt it? Like we were melding?"

Liara's fingers froze. "Shepard. Have I done something wrong? I know humans consider it impolite to pry into their - "

Kate took Liara's face in her hands. "Li. My name is Kate. And you can pry any time you want. I'm just curious, that's all. I want to understand you. All about you."

Liara smiled again, though more hesitantly. Kate would never say so, but she found Liara's shyness more than a little endearing. Though Liara probably knew that already.

"And I, you." Liara said. Her eyes unfocused slightly, as they always did when she talked about herself. "When an Asari bonds with someone, we feel what they feel. Even when we are not melding. But the feeling is especially strong when they are dreaming. Often, we can see their dreams."

"So you saw..."

Liara nodded. "I, too, have seen your vision, the first times we melded. I have the dreams as well."

Kate let out a long breath. "A dream always loses something when you try to tell it to someone. And this..." Her lips pressed together. Despite what she'd just said, it felt good to put it into words. "Nightmare doesn't describe it. Fear I can deal with. That's part of my job. If I die, hopefully I do it so someone else gets to go on."

"Like your Lieutenant Alenko."

"Yes. And he goes on, too, in our memories. But this is the end of everything. No one left to remember."

They lay together in silence for a few minutes.

Kate went on, "It's selfish of me. Here you are, only a hundred and six, and - "

Now it was Liara who stopped her, with a finger over her lips. "Kate. You have been protecting me since we first met. From the Geth. From Saren. And now from the Reapers. Some of it, as you say, is your job. But..." Her eyes flicked away, then back to Kate's. "I want to protect you, too."

"You do. Anyone who's seen your biotics knows that."

"Not like that. I mean - "

Kate's hand closed over Liara's and their fingers interlaced. "I know, Li." She squeezed. "I know."

They were quiet for another few minutes. Then Kate said, "So you feel what I feel..."

"Yes."

Kate smiled slowly. "Humans have a word for that."

* * *

"Then see to it that we don't lose her."

"Easier said than done for someone who likes running right at trouble. We have operatives aboard the Normandy, of course, but there are limits to what they can do."

The boss rubbed his forehead. "Can we get the orders changed?"

"If they came from the Admiralty, yes. But these come straight from the Council - over Anderson's objections, of course. Obviously, we don't have anybody on the Council itself." She lifted a dark eyebrow at him. "Unless you know otherwise."

He swirled the drink in his glass as he considered. "The orders likely originated with the Turian. We know some things that might help bring him around. But I don't think this is the time."

"What about Shepard? Get her to leave the Alliance - or have them give her a hero's retirement - and then bring her in? It'll take more than a little pressure, but..."

She thought his ice-blue eyes glowed a bit brighter. "Her relationship with the Asari does present...possibilities."

"You've seen the vids?"

"For informational purposes only." His tone was mildly reproving. "There's a very strong bond between them. Shepard saved T'Soni from the Geth. She took her out of an arid academic life and into a world of discovery and danger, where her talents are no doubt being truly appreciated for the first time. That would have quite an effect on anyone, and T'Soni is young, for an Asari. And she's clearly smitten with Shepard. I'm told this is the first time she's bonded with anyone, human or otherwise, and the vids tend to support that."

He downed the remains of his drink and lit a cigar. If his subordinate felt like washing her hands after his dissection of Shepard's romantic life, she kept it to herself.

"However," he went on, "that might help us with T'Soni, but I doubt it will cut any ice with Shepard. The woman who left one of her best friends to die on Virmire isn't going to come work for us just because we put a gun to the Asari's head."

"So we leave Shepard where she is?"

He slowly exhaled a thick cloud of cigar smoke. "For now."

She began to pace, blind to the spectacular view outside. "There must be something else we can do."

His eyes narrowed to blue slits. "I know that tone of voice. Out with it."

She turned to face him. "I read the reports from Project Aquinas."

His expression didn't change. "You're not cleared for that. We'll discuss your liberal interpretation of security protocol later." He blew out more smoke. "For now, what about it?"

As she talked, she began pacing again. Occasionally she glanced at him. The burning end of his cigar and the faint twin glow of his eyes were all she could see, but she knew she was convincing him.


	2. Chapter 2

Their suite was one of the finest in the Presidium, even before the battle. Liara stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out over the lake and the green trees spread out below. The sky was darkening toward the night cycle, and soft footlights were glowing to life beneath the trees. Behind her, Kate was making minute adjustments to her white dress uniform. She actually liked the things - once she settled into them, which took a while.

"Kate," Liara said, "We are going to be late. I have been ready for over twenty minutes."

"We'll be fine," Kate said, straightening one of the gold oak leaves on her collar.

Liara stepped over and seized Kate's tie.

"You're mess-" Kate managed to say before Liara pulled her into a kiss. Their arms went around each other. The room was darker when they broke apart, gasping, a thin strand of wetness briefly joining their lips.

"You can fix it on the way down," Liara said. "If we do not go now, I am going to do worse than that, and then we shall be very late."

"Promises," Kate said. They walked out of their room and down the thick-carpeted hallway to the elevator. Liara was quiet during the long ride down. Kate knew that meant she was nerving herself to say something, but she didn't push.

As they walked, she looked at the shops, at the people walking past, enjoying the feeling of not being shot at or even in a hurry for once, of having Liara's hand in hers as their arms swung in rhythm. No one even stopped them or shoved a camera in their faces. The Alliance brass had made it clear what would happen if anyone from the Normandy's crew was bothered today -

"Kate...do you think they will let me stay on the Normandy? With you? I do not wish to impose, but - "

Kate squeezed her hand. "I'll let you stay on the Normandy. If you're good."

"Yes. You are a hero. They will let you - write your own ticket. And I am sure we will see many more fascinating places. Places like Ilos."

Kate shuddered. She never wanted to see a tomb like that again. She said, "The Normandy is your home, Li. For as long as you want it."

"As long as you are there."

There was another silence before she spoke again.

"It is lonely, being the captain."

"Sometimes, yes. The Normandy is like my family. In fact it's all the family I have. But...I'm still the captain. The Old Man, they used to call it."

"Uh-huh," Liara chuckled. "The Old Man. I am glad they do not call you that now." Her smile faded. "Kate...just so you know..." Her words came in a rush. "It is all right if you do not want to hold hands when we are around the crew."

"Oh?" Kate lifted an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"I have heard that humans have certain...unwritten rules about when and where to express affection. Apparently it even varies between relationships. It is very confusing. I know that, as the captain, you have to be somewhat more...formal than, for example, Joker."

Kate laughed. "That's not saying much."

"No, perhaps not. I just mean...I do not want to make it difficult for you."

Kate stopped and pulled on Liara's hand so that the other woman turned to face her. Her free hand reached up and slid around the back of Liara's neck. She looked into Liara's blue eyes, almost clear, like water, with little flecks seeming to radiate outward from the center.

"I love you, Liara," she said. "I don't care who knows it, or what they think."

Liara's lips parted. Her breath tickled Kate's face and had a faint, very faint, scent that made her think of the lemon tree in the back yard of her parents' house, before - she pulled Liara's mouth to hers.

They stood there, an island in the sea of people flowing around them, until finally a man bumped into them. Kate caught a glimpse of a badly scarred face and a startling pair of mismatched eyes before he vanished back into the crowd, muttering, "goddamn honeymooners". In his accent - she thought it was Australian - the words struck her as funny. She giggled. So did Liara. Laughing, they walked, holding hands, to the wake.

* * *

They walked in under an archway that streamed with brightly-colored banners. On a small stage, a jazz band played, including Mr. Presley, who seemed to play his saxophone with his whole body. Liara smiled to watch his contortions and grimaces. Between notes, he winked at her. There were tables laden with food and drink. Around them were a couple of dozen people, talking, eating, dancing, drinking, and laughing.

"It is...fitting," Liara said.

Kate nodded. "I think it's what they would have wanted." The more solemn services for Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko and Corporal Richard Jenkins had already been held by their crewmates aboard the Normandy, and by their families on Earth and Eden Prime.

Dr. Chakwas came up to them. "Liara, you are beautiful," she said. Liara wore a traditional Asari festive gown, white and demure, with single threads of blue-gray in just the right places to highlight her curves. She smiled. "And you, Doctor."

Chakwas said, "Thank you, but I never was much for dressing up. At times like this I'm glad to have the uniform to fall back on." Then she stiffened and muttered, "Brace yourselves."

Ambassador Udina came over to them and shook their hands. Liara still found the custom a strange one. "I want to say one thing first," Udina said. His voice and accent were harsh, almost a bark.

Chakwas said, "This is hardly the - "

"You were right," Udina said. "And I was wrong. We are fortunate that Commander Shepard has the courage of her convictions, and that she had all of you to aid her."

"Now that it worked, you say that," Chakwas said, but her tone was light.

His mouth quirked in a half-smile. "My decision to ground the Normandy hasn't done my career any good, no." To her surprise, Liara liked him better for his direct answer.

Liara and Kate walked around the room. Liara was surprised at how relaxed she was. Because of her tie to Benezia, the crew at first had regarded her with suspicion, even hostility. Shepard, Chakwas, Joker, and Alenko had been the only ones to welcome her. Now she was one of them. And she was happy to be here with her Kate. Everyone had good wishes for them.

She heard Engineer Adams say, "Are you sure you won't stay on? You'd have my job inside of a month - though hopefully on another ship, no offense, Miss Nar'Rayya."

Tali said, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you, but the Migrant Fleet is my home. I'll always remember the Normandy, but, frankly, there's too much space and not enough noise."

Adams laughed. "I'll let the folks at Cord-Hislop know about that one. But when the SR2 comes out with lower ceilings and cheaper plumbing, you have to come back and suffer with the rest of us."

At one of the serving tables, Garrus said, "They went all out. Serrice Ice Brandy. Batarian ale. Even Ryncol."

"And cookies," Wrex said.

"Cookies?"

"Yes. We have no such things on Tu'Chanka. This should be remedied."

The band finished a song. Into the sudden quiet, Captain - now Councilor - Anderson tapped the small podium and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll have a few words about the guests of honor at our little gathering this evening, though they are with us only in memory."

Udina spoke first. "It wasn't my privilege to know Lieutenant Alenko or Corporal Jenkins personally. But I know what every human owes them. A month ago, the Council and the galactic community saw humanity as childish, even dangerous. And no Asari, Krogan, Quarian, or Turian had ever served on a ship of the human Alliance. But this gathering is a testament to what we can do together. Thanks to the sacrifices of the two we are here to remember, humanity has stepped out of the shadows and stands shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the galaxy, ready to do its part. What we make of the gift they've given us, is up to us."

Two Salarians in uniform stepped forward. The first said, "My name is Captain Kirrahe, and this is my second-in-command, Commander Rentola. It is our honor, as representatives of the Salarian Union, to present Lieutenant Alenko with the Order of Aegohr. His actions on Virmire saved the lives of many of my men. We cannot speak of what happened that day, but we can tell our hatchlings that we lived to see them because he held the line."

Wrex's voice needed no microphone. "You humans have an apt saying: better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Alenko and Jenkins died on their feet to save all of us from living on our knees. They were where they wanted to be, in the heart of the fight. Alenko helped me remember what it is to be Krogan. To fight for something more than myself. Tomorrow I am returning to Tu'Chanka to unite my people. I'd be proud to take him with me."

Ashley Williams said, "The Ambassador spoke of what we owe our two friends. I owe Kaiden more than that. He saved my life, though he gave his for much more." Her eyes glistened, but she held together. "Until we meet again, I'll make it count." She cleared her throat.

"'Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'  
We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;  
One equal temper of heroic hearts,  
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'"

Joker said, "All right, this is getting too solemn." Hatless, clean-shaven, in dress whites heavy with decorations, he was a different person until he spoke. He launched into a tale of one of Alenko's romantic exploits when he and Joker were together at the Academy, which became more highly improbable but hilarious by the minute. By the time he finished, Liara was leaning on Shepard, shaking with laughter, tears streaming down her face.

Kate Shepard said, "Richard Jenkins and Kaiden Alenko let us look to the future, not with fear, but with hope. But what I'll remember about them is the time I spent talking, eating, fighting at their side. What they taught me, what I'm still learning - " she looked at Liara - "is that these are the days, with all their decisions, all their unknowns, that we will one day look back on and say we'd give anything to live again. Some of you are leaving the Normandy, to continue the fight elsewhere, or just to go on with your lives. We may not meet again, but we, and Richard, and Kaiden, will always have these days together."

* * *

In the elevator back to their suite, Kate said, "I hate giving speeches. Being shot at is easier."

Liara said, "It was hard for me, at first, on the Normandy. Lieutenant Alenko helped me to fit in. I once heard him say that non-humans were 'jerks and saints', just like humans. That is the best thing he could have said. His kindness and his fairness are how I will remember him."

Kate said, "Chakwas was right. You are beautiful." She stepped forward, backing Liara against the wall.

Liara said, "Kate, this elevator is transparent."

Kate slipped her arms around Liara, who pretended to struggle, but her hands were pinned at her sides. Kate kissed the side of her neck. "But we can do this with our clothes on," she whispered.

"I will be exhausted. You will have to put me to bed."

Kate's fingers began stroking the small of Liara's back.

"Ooh Goddess..."

"Come on, T'Soni, all I want are two little words."


	3. Chapter 3

"You sure you won't come with us?" Kate asked again. "Earth in autumn. Too nice to spend sitting in some lecture hall."

Dr. Chakwas smiled. "Thank you, but I know when three is a crowd, Commander."

Liara was still learning human idioms, but she caught that one. She blushed - to a slightly darker shade of blue - but said, "And Dr. Chakwas is the one giving the lecture. At the Milky Way Foundation's annual symposium, no less."

Kate said, "No wonder you didn't tell me that part. Only the most prestigious research foundation this side of Sur'Kesh. You're coming down in the world, Doctor."

"Yes," Liara said, "so she can hardly afford to be seen, ah, slumming with the likes of us."

Chakwas laughed out loud. "Shepard, she's as bad as you are."

"Worse."

Chakwas gave Kate a hug, then Liara. "Take care of her," she whispered to Liara. Then she picked up her black bag, strode through the airlock, and vanished into the endless stream of people hurrying through the spaceport.

Kate inclined her head. "Shall we?"

She took Liara's hand, their fingers interlacing, as they walked through the airlock. The Marine guard saluted them. Kate nodded back.

As they walked, Liara said, "I am excited to see your homeworld. I have seen vids of it - most of them since I came aboard - but have never been there. I am glad they let you take the ship."

"Well, after Saren, even the Council figured we all deserved some leave - and a first-class ride. I'm just glad you wanted to come with me. We could have taken you to Thessia, you know."

Liara shook her head. "There is nothing for me there. There has not been for many years."

* * *

"How beautiful it is. And how quiet," Liara said.

Kate smiled, feeling almost as if she'd invented Lake Champlaign. A silly feeling, she knew, but pleasurable all the same. Around their small wooden rowboat, the water was dark and placid, broken only by the occasional rise of a fish. The trees on the shore were sprinkled with red and green and gold, translucent with sunlight from a low angle. Above, the scattered white clouds were slowly catching fire.

"There is nothing like this on Thessia," Liara said.

"Don't you have seasons?"

"Yes, but the leaves do not turn. The trees - their roots grow so far into the ground that they draw heat from it. They use the heat to attract the fliers - you would call them birds - in the winter. The fliers spread the trees' seeds when the ground thaws. Then the trees shed their branches to conserve energy."

"Their branches? Sounds like a mess," Kate said.

"Not at all. Without the fliers to absorb the heat, it escapes into the air, where it mixes with the cooler air and creates storms. The lightning strikes the trees and they burn, but their trunks are flame retardant, so they are not totally consumed. The fires burn all through the summer, in many colors - red, violet, sometimes white. When it is cloudy, the whole sky glows with them. In the fall, the branches begin growing again, several meters a day, sometimes."

"How...strange." Kate closed her eyes, imagining it. "I'd love you to show me that one day. It makes this seem dull."

Liara smiled. "It all depends on what you are used to."

An ancient, white-painted wooden church steeple rose above the trees, the peal of the bell rolling across the water to them.

"Six o'clock," Liara said. She pushed the oars toward Kate. "You lost the bet, so I believe you get to row us back."

Kate flushed at the memory. "Some bet. I'm corrupting you, all right."

A smile spread across Liara's face. "I thought that humans hated to lose. But you seemed to enjoy it well enough. Maybe I was mistaken."

"Well..." Kate said, before realizing Liara was twitting her. "You," she said, and punched Liara in the shoulder.

"If you continue to abuse your crew, rather than row, we will not make it back before dark."

"Dark?" Kate raised one reddish eyebrow over a wide and innocent blue eye. "Hmmm."

"Kate. I believe you are corrupting me again."

Kate reached out, took Liara's wrists, and pulled her forward as she lay back into the boat. The water slapping against the hull shut out every other sound. Liara's face hid the darkening sky as they kissed.

Later, they lay together under a wool blanket in their room at the bed and breakfast. Moonlight shone on the lake outside and silhouetted the falling leaves against the night sky.

"I think," Liara said, "my favorite place was the Rocky Mountains. It felt as if I could see the world from up there. So different from being underground, in a dig site."

"My dad took me fishing in that lake we went to," Kate said. "When I was little, before he died."

Liara held her a bit tighter. "You never mentioned that."

"Not something I think about much. I just remembered it was very beautiful up there. It seemed much bigger at the time, of course. Like the mountains rose up to the sky, and the lake went on forever. I caught a fish that was probably bigger than I was. My dad was mad as hell."

Liara stroked Kate's hair. In the silvery light, the strands glowed almost gold as she sifted them through her fingers, again and again. "I do not understand. Why was he mad at you?"

"He wasn't, really. When you go fishing, there's always a little friendly competition. He didn't catch anything that day, and there I was with a trout that could feed both of us."

"You must miss him very much."

"Yes and no. I never really got to know him. For a long time I was angry at him. At both of them. It was like they'd abandoned me. Of course, it wasn't their fault."

Liara rested her head on Kate's shoulder. "I felt the same way about my mother. When she died."

Kate ran her hand back and forth along Liara's side, feeling the curves of her shoulder, her breast, her stomach, her hips. "I never meant for you to see her die. I thought we could save her."

"So did I - but, of course, I wanted to believe that. Now I am just glad that she is no longer in pain. But, as you say, knowing it is one thing. Feeling it is another."

They lay in silence for a few minutes. Then Liara asked, "What was the most important thing you learned from him? Your father, I mean."

"'It's up to me.'" Kate said at once. "That's what he always said. If he thought he could do it, he could."

Liara's tone was light. "Clearly, he did not have much influence on you, Kate."

Kate poked her, making her squeak. "What about you?"

Liara's smile faded. "To remember the good. To cherish the time we have, so we will not regret it when it is gone."

Words came into Kate's mouth that, she knew, were impossible to say. Insane, really. You've known her for, what? Has it even been a month? But you make her happy. And she makes you happy. Of course, she'll laugh at you for saying such a thing to a hundred-and-six-year-old woman after knowing her for a month. But you make snap decisions, life or death decisions, without enough information, all the time. And this feels right. More right than it's ever felt, with anyone. But it won't always be like this. There'll be housework, and bills, and diapers to change. But then, you probably won't live that long -

"Kate," Liara's voice was soft. "Your thoughts are so loud, you might as well be screaming."

Kate managed a smile. "Well, that sure makes it easier."

Liara kissed her. "Kate. I - appreciate what you are thinking. I know how you intend it. I love you. For now, that is enough. And I think we will have a little more time."

Kate kissed her back, relieved and disappointed at the same time. "Yeah."

They pressed against one another until every part of them seemed to be entwined, the way they always slept. Kate had never been able to sleep together that way - she had always needed her space. But, with Liara, it was easy, although Liara's body was several degrees colder than hers, so that she always had the urge to hold her more tightly or pull another blanket over her. She was just drifting off to sleep when Liara said, "There is one more place I want to see. Tomorrow."

* * *

Dr. Chakwas sighed as she slid under the bedsheet. She rested her head on the pillows - they were so limp, she had to stack up three of them - and looked out through the window of her hotel bedroom at the nighttime lights of New York. She was exhausted. The symposium was over, and in the morning she would get on a suborbital to visit some old friends from medical school in Northhampton. She was looking forward to that much more than she had to the symposium.

In a few minutes, she was asleep.

They waited another hour, until they could be sure that the drug - a colorless, tasteless, and odorless substance that had been applied to the bottom of her wine glass prior to her evening drink of Serrice Ice brandy - had taken proper effect.

Operative Hinson rose from his hiding place, approached the bed, and expertly swept her with his handheld scanner. "We are go." He had no worries about waking Chakwas up. The drug would keep her out for at least twelve hours, as well as blocking any memory formation. That would be more than enough time to get her to the facility where the next steps would take place. Her sincere regrets had already been sent on to her colleagues in England.

Operative Lawson came herself. Her boss believed in keeping a healthy distance between himself and his projects, so that he could disavow responsibility whenever it became necessary - which was often. Lawson, however, believed that what you wanted done right, you did yourself.

She helped Hinson transfer Chakwas' sleeping body to the laundry cart outside her hotel room. From there, they took her out through the staff entrance and onto a waiting truck. Lawson piloted the truck out of the busy lanes of the city and to what looked like a small estate winery in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Lawson thought that the good doctor would have appreciated the place.

The underground laboratory where the real work was done here was a bit less idyllic, of course. They wheeled Chakwas over to a waiting table and transferred her onto it. A lab technician inserted an IV drip. The compound inside was less soporific than what she had been dosed with earlier - it would let her rise nearer to consciousness, which would facilitate the procedure, without quite letting her wake up.

Another person walked into the room, dressed in surgical scrubs. Her hair was silver, almost white, straight, and stopped at her jaw. Her face, thanks to extensive surgery...

Lawson nodded to her. "Dr. Chakwas."

The other woman, whose real name was Dr. Crane, smiled. "Not yet." She made a brisk final inspection of Chakwas' vitals, then opened a port on the IV bag, inserted a needle, and added a few drops of clear fluid. They contained the nanoprobes.

"You're sure this is safe?" Lawson couldn't help asking. The boss had made it clear what would happen if he had to cover up the untimely demise of a senior officer of the ship that had just saved the Destiny Ascension - and the Citadel. "Do the words 'political shit-storm' mean anything to you, Ms. Lawson?" he had asked.

Crane wasn't offended. "Safe as tipping over a Volus. The tricky part is on my end." She stepped over to the monitoring station, where two dozen screens were stacked atop one another in rows of six. She glanced at each one, made a few adjustments, and looked them over again. Finally she stepped back over to the empty table next to Chakwas' and lay down.

She had volunteered for this assignment. She considered that only fair, since she had done the work that made this possible. Such as conducting the tests, in which so many subjects - who were not volunteers - had died. That part, of course, had taken place in a much more remote facility, out in the Chiron Nebula. After nearly ten years of work - and a hideous sum of money - Project Aquinas was about to see its first real application.

The lead technician, whose name was Wilson, was also wearing scrubs. He inserted an IV drip into Crane's arm as well and began the anesthetic. She closed her eyes. "Be careful, Wilson," she said. "If I wake up dead, I'll kill you."

"Uh, right," Wilson said. He was competent, if colorless. He waited, then opened a port on Crane's IV bag and added the same solution that Chakwas had received. Well, not quite the same solution.

He stepped over to the monitors, glancing between them and Crane's notes. "Starting recording."

In her bed, Chakwas continued breathing deeply and regularly.

The screens filled with images. Lawson stepped over and watched, fascinated. There were dim, blurry images of an older woman who looked much like Chakwas - her mother, Lawson realized. A swing hanging from a branch of a oak tree in a back yard. A birthday present that turned out to be a toy surgery set. Tiny hands grasped the reflex mallet and swung it with delight, to the displeasure of the orange tabby cat nearby.

"We're starting from childhood," Wilson said. "The data - the memories and knowledge - will become more complex as we progress in age. By that time, their brains will be more acclimated to the transfer and will handle the higher bandwidth, so to speak."

Lawson watched the kaleidoscope of movies. "How long?"

Wilson folded his arms. "We're talking about the Bekenstein bound of the human brain. The numeric prefix for that amount of data hasn't even been named yet. We had to invent a new generation of data storage tech just to -"

"How long?"

He glared at her, but looked away first. "Just over three days." He glanced at Crane. "It's not the reading that's hard, it's the writing. It's riskier, duplexing them like this. And speaking of which..." He brought up Crane's vitals, took a deep breath, and keyed in a command. "Starting transfer."

Crane twitched. Wilson watched her vitals closely, but didn't seem alarmed.

"Is that normal?" Lawson asked.

He nodded. "The old memories are being blocked and the pathways redirected to the new ones. When we're done, she'll believe she's Dr. Chakwas. And, for all practical purposes, she'll be Dr. Chakwas. With one slight difference that we'll add during the transfer."

"She works for us," Lawson said.

"Yes. And she won't even know. She'll think she's acting on sealed orders from the Admiralty, if she thinks about it at all."

They had considered writing the new programming into Chakwas herself, but wrote it off as too risky. Therefore, the person who replaced her had to be a foolproof imitation.

"Just let me know if anything goes wrong," Lawson said. "I don't care what hour of the day or night it is. Call me."

Wilson nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Sneaking our own Dr. Chakwas onto the Normandy," Hinson remarked as he and Lawson walked out of the lab together. "Heavy risk...but the prize."

"Yes."

* * *

The White Cliffs of Dover were shrouded in cold and mist. The two of them had this part, near the South Foreland lighthouse, to themselves.

Liara looked a little disappointed. "They say you can see France across the Channel. I hoped we would be able to today."

Kate lifted an eyebrow at her. "We can just hop over there. There's a ferry to Calais."

Liara smiled. "My Kate. You are so literal. So linear. Go straight for what you want."

Kate smiled back. "As you once said, that happens when you're a short-lived species. But we can be patient, when we have to. Maybe it will clear up."

"I would like that."

And it did. They sat together, near the edge, watching the fog recede across the Channel, until the first watery sunlight gleamed off the beaches on the other side.

"I was reading about your history, on the Normandy," Liara said. "I wanted to know what the ship was named for. I found a recording that I thought was fitting. It was from a speech given not long ago - for me, that is - by your Winston Churchill. He was not here, exactly, when he said it, but I believe this is where he was thinking of."

She looked out across the water. "'I have, myself, full confidence that we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. Linked together in our cause and in our need, we will defend to the death our native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of our strength. We shall not flag. We shall not fail. We shall go on to the end.'"

Kate put her arm around Liara's shoulders and leaned against her as they looked out over the water and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks below.

"But," Liara said, "as you say, the Normandy is home. As beautiful as it is here...I am getting homesick."

Kate smiled. "I thought you'd never ask." She stood and put her hand out and pulled Liara to her feet and they began walking back down along the cliffs.


	4. Chapter 4

They happened to get back to the Normandy's airlock at the same time as Dr. Chakwas. They hugged, and Liara asked, "How was it, Doctor?"

Chakwas smiled and said, "Liara, the trouble with being invited to lecture at a symposium is that you then have to listen to other lectures. None of which - strictly in my professional opinion, of course - were as good as mine."

Kate said, "Glad you haven't let it go to your head."

Liara pointed to the small antigrav cart that Chakwas was pulling behind her. "I am glad she brought us presents, Shepard."

Chakwas smiled. "I did. After your experience on Eden Prime, I put in a requisition for a new neural scanner. They're singing its praises in all the journals. It might help us to better understand that vision you had."

"I'm all for that," Shepard said. She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then dropped her voice. "The last time I talked to the Council, I got the impression they just want to bury this whole thing."

"Bury it?" Liara asked, also quietly. "How?"

"They don't want to believe the Reapers are real, any more than they wanted to believe Saren was a traitor. Oh, they'll accept the proof once you throw it in their laps, but they aren't going to just take my word for anything, even after...everything."

Chakwas frowned. "But they had a Reaper crash right in their laps, for Christ's sake. And what about Ilos?"

"They think Sovereign was built by the Geth. And Vigil is gone. It used up the last of its reserves talking to us. And none of us thought to record it. We were too busy worrying about Saren." She looked at Chakwas. "So, if you can help prove that vision was real, and not just some hallucination, just tell me what I need to do."

Chakwas nodded. "Thank you, Commander. It's an intensive scan, so I'll need you in the infirmary for about a standard day. Then we'll need to send it back to Earth, or the Citadel, for analysis."

"A whole day in sickbay. My dream come true." Kate rubbed her forehead. "We'll have plenty of time on the way to where we're going."

"Well, that's your business," Chakwas said. "Mine, as you once put it, is to clean up the mess when we get there." She gave them each another hug and flagged down a passing crewman to take the cart to the infirmary.

"If I may ask, Shepard, where are we going?" Liara asked when they were alone.

Kate clapped her on the shoulder. "You're part of my crew now, T'Soni. So you may ask." They kept walking. Liara gave her a puzzled sidelong look. "That's a little joke," she added. She took Liara's hand in hers. A crewman saw them and smiled.

* * *

The nightmare was real.

The Normandy staggered as another lance of fire pierced the barriers and the hull without apparent resistance. Liara had no idea what was happening. It didn't feel like an attack - more like the Goddess herself had abruptly decided to blast them all out of existence.

A crewman ran, ablaze and screaming, past Liara as she fought her way aft through the flames and smoke. She recognized Shepard at once. The suited figure, facing away from her, was securing its helmet, as calmly as if the person inside was standing in an empty meadow rather than on the deck of a burning ship.

"Shepard!" It wasn't Kate she wanted now. It was the captain - the Old Man - who would make everything all right, who would, somehow, save them all.

"Distress beacon is ready for launch," the figure said. It was the voice of Shepard watching Reapers choke out the sky - sharp, but under firm control.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?" Liara was surprised at how calm her voice seemed, too. The ship rocked and pitched her forward, and she caught herself on Shepard's shoulders.

They looked at one another for a moment, though neither could see the other's face. Later, Liara would realize that was the last bit of comfort she would ever get from her Kate.

Shepard staggered toward a fire extinguisher. "The Alliance won't abandon us. We just need to hold on. Get everyone onto the escape shuttles."

"Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't evacuate." Liara turned to face Shepard. "I'm not leaving, either."

"Get to the damn shuttles. I'll haul Joker's crippled ass out of here," Shepard made herself say. She would not let the last, and worst, part of the nightmare come true. If the Normandy came apart around her, she would die knowing Liara had made it to safety. Nothing else was thinkable.

"Shepard..." It held all the things they had said to one another, that last night, and the things they hadn't.

"Get the hell out of here!" Kate's voice was a lash. She turned her back.

Liara's body obeyed, taking her back the way she had come, before her mind realized what she was doing. It's up to me, she told herself as hell came to the Normandy, all around her, in black and yellow and red. It's up to me.

She waved the last survivors into the last shuttle, shouting things she didn't remember. Her hands pulled the safety harness down over her. A sickening jolt made her vision swim for a moment as the shuttle blasted free. She tried to turn in her seat, to look out the viewport at the receding ship, but she hit something unyielding and fell back into her seat. She looked down at the harness in suprise, not knowing how it had gotten there. Her hands tried to free herself, but she seemed to have trouble making them work.

"Ma'am - no." The crewman next to her - just a kid - grabbed her nearest hand and pulled it away. She cursed him in Asari and strugged to pull free, but he held tight. At last she came to herself and stopped. I'm in charge here, she told herself. It's up to me.

The shuttle spun lazily as it shot away. For a last moment, the Normandy came into view, receding quickly, but even at this distance she could see it crisscrossed with blazing red scars that flickered in the night. Then a line of yellow annihilation sheared it in two. The blossoming sea of flame lit the inside of the shuttle to an eerie, silent day.

"No," Liara whispered, her whole body taut with unbelieving horror. But she could feel the bond flickering like a dying candle, like what was left of the Normandy. She could feel the air rushing out through the tears in her suit, the impossible thinness of space flooding in. Her lungs heaved and her throat rasped. Her hands clawed at her helmet, to tighten it, to get it off, she was past knowing. The crewman tried to stop her again, but this time his arm was flung away with enough force to snap it. At last, her muscles went slack and her scrabbling ceased. Her last thought was, "Liara...Liara is all right," and then there was only a dim sensation of gratitude as blackness rushed up to meet her.

* * *

The boss listened without interruption to Lawson's report. Inside, she was frightened, but she didn't show it. His body was rigid, his eyes glowing almost white, as he exerted his iron self-control to its limit. To someone who didn't know him, the only outward sign was the long, rolling cloud of cigar smoke he let out as she finished.

"Ms. Lawson. You were ordered to not lose Shepard."

"Yes, sir." There was no apology in her voice. No apology was possible for this debacle.

He drew in a long breath. "But...perhaps it is unreasonable to expect you to have single-handedly stopped this...thing that destroyed Shepard's ship." His tone suggested that it wasn't very unreasonable, however.

"Yes, sir."

Some of the tightness left his face and body. "All right, then. What are our next steps?" He didn't ask whether Lawson had something ready. That was a given.

"Crane succeeded, sir." Lawson couldn't keep the relief from her voice. "She got a full image and stored it in the data bank we provided her. She then made a backup copy of the bank and ejected it as the Normandy passed through the Batalla system. Three days ago. We have search teams looking for it now. It transmits a homing signal that masquerades as background radiation. They tell me they can locate it within a week."

"What about the original copy?"

"We designed it to be as durable as possible. It might well have survived the Normandy's destruction. We believe that the remains of the Normandy crash-landed somewhere in the Amada system. We have teams there as well."

"And Crane?"

Lawson shook her head. "She wasn't able to get suited in time."

"How do we know?"

"One of our operatives was in an escape shuttle with two crew members who witnessed her death. There was debris in the way and they weren't able to reach her."

His eyes narrowed. "Did anyone else see this?"

"Not according to the reports we've intercepted."

He made a note on the holopad in front of him. "Then it seems we've done the good doctor a favor. The reports of her death will turn out to have been greatly exaggerated. The unreliable artifacts of understandable panic and confusion. Chakwas is too valuable to lose. And, in fact, this will make it easier to return her to the Alliance. In time, of course, we'll bring her in. But that's in the future."

He lit a fresh cigar. "This is hardly good, but it could have been worse. Shepard's memories and knowledge will provide a rich intelligence haul. And since Crane demonstrated that the imprinting process works, we have the opportunity to build our very own Commander Shepard." The eyes glowed like blue coals. "Or an army of them."

Lawson cleared her throat. "There is one problem. The imprinting isn't meant to last for long periods. The tests indicated that after six months, the imprinted data begin degrading, and the pre-existing memories begin resurfacing. This causes the subject considerable confusion and distress."

He rubbed his head. "Wonderful."

Lawson went on, "We planned to remove Crane and reinsert Chakwas before this happened. According to Crane's notes, she tried to re-imprint several test subjects - to refresh the new programming - but the success rate decreased exponentially after the first imprinting. As a side effect, by the sixth attempt, all subjects had died."

"Then we have to refine the process."

"There is one thing that would help," Lawson said. "Shepard's body."

"What body? It's been decompressed or blasted to atoms."

"Maybe not. The report filed by the pilot, Lt. Moreau, indicated that Shepard was fully suited and was thrown clear of the Normandy by the initial explosion, before it was engulfed."

"Then the body burned up in atmospheric re-entry. Anyway, why does it matter?"

"If we had the body, we could use tissue regenerators to reconstruct the brain. The knowledge and memories will be lost, due to cellular breakdown, but we can imprint them. You see, Crane also tried re-imprinting subjects with their own brain images. The results of those tests are much more robust. No degradation of the imprinted information after five years, so far, and no significant decrease in the success rate after repeated imprinting. It has something to do with not having to redirect the pathways to - "

He waved away the details. "What about cloning?"

She shook her head. "Didn't work either. The variations are tiny, but apparently they're enough to cause problems. Crane did of course manage to get us some tissue samples, just in case."

"Very well." He made another note. "We need to work on that as well." He leaned forward in his chair. "Meanwhile, _find the body_, Ms. Lawson."


	5. Chapter 5

"Shepard..."

"Get the hell out of here!" Shepard screamed at her, and turned away.

"No," Liara said. She had a rush of towering anger, and an odd feeling of triumph. "I said, I'm not leaving." Shepard was surrounded by a bluish haze that bore her off the deck. She flailed at the air and screamed curses that frightened Liara more than the explosions that burst all around them.

Liara turned and ran to the nearest shuttle, the biotic field - and Shepard - in her wake. Around her, the ship burned. She didn't even hear the screams of terror and agony. It was up to her. Her Kate was coming with her.

She stopped at the open hatch and turned to put Shepard inside. But no one was there. The biotic field blew away like one of the late dandelions she had seen on Earth.

"No," she whispered. She wasn't strong enough. She had to make the field stronger. She sprinted back the way she had come, to find Shepard again. One of the crewmen grabbed at her, trying to pull her back into the shuttle. She struggled, but it was as if she were moving underwater. Around her, the ship came apart in a vast bloom of fire. The air steamed out of her lungs as they shriveled. The flames lapped at her skin as it blackened and crumpled. The horror of it was not her own death, but Kate's.

It was up to you. And you failed.

"Dr. T'Soni! Please. It's all right. You're all right." The nurse caught Liara's arms as they flailed at her.

All right. Words with no meaning. She would never be all right again.

"I, I am sorry," she said what was expected of her.

Another day.

"Goddess..." She lay, wide-eyed and trembling, staring at the wall.

* * *

After the Normandy's escape shuttles were picked up, the wounded were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, back on Earth. Though Liara was physically unharmed, the chief medical officer aboard the rescue vessel recommended that she be included. The Asari Councilor had demanded that she be taken to a facility in Asari space, but Councilor Anderson had brokered a compromise: she would be kept together with the other Normandy survivors, and Asari physicians would be allowed to visit and consult on her treatment. Not that they did much good.

They tried to make her eat. Sometimes she did, putting the food in her mouth, chewing, and swallowing. None of it had any taste. Mostly, though, she just shoved the plate away. It wasn't that she was punishing herself - though she was, and she would for months to come. Slim to begin with, she became gaunt, the bones in her face sharply pronounced. They added nutrients to her intravenous drip.

She was sobbing and hysterical for hours at a time, or curled into a tight arc, her teeth chattering, her eyes wide and frightened. There was a terrific, immovable weight crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe. Her stomach felt as though it had been gouged out with a shovel, leaving a yawning emptiness that had nothing to do with hunger. When she slept it was only from sheer exhaustion, and then the nightmares came for her.

Cherish the good days, so you will not regret when they are gone. How wise she had been, and how utterly wrong. There were not enough of the good days. There should have been courtship, a bonding ceremony, children, old age. And now she realized even that was not enough. Nothing could ever make her ready to lose her Kate.

A human doctor tried to have her restrained, fearing she would harm herself. One of the Asari doctors reminded him that Liara was a biotic and hardly needed the use of her body to do so. The rebuke was so searing that Liara never saw that human again. The Asari doctor muttered dark things about the state of human medical knowledge, and humans in general, for days afterward.

Liara had a steady stream of visitors. Even the Normandy's uninjured crew had additional leave while they were reassigned, and word went around that she was taking it harder than most of them.

The first and most frequent visitor was Dr. Chakwas. From the beginning, she set aside her own shock and grief and focused on Liara's. She admitted that she had no memory of the attack on the Normandy, or even of the preceding weeks. "Post-traumatic retrograde amnesia, it seems. I'm told I was on the last shuttle they found, just as they were stopping the search. They didn't know why they hadn't spotted me earlier. For my part, I have no idea how I got on that shuttle." She smiled, but she was clearly troubled. "It's a good thing I'm not a neurologist. It's embarrassing enough already."

Liara's voice was a thin reed. "Doctor...could they not still find her? Like they took so long to find you?" She knew better. She had felt Kate die. She just wanted someone, anyone, to tell her she was wrong. Any day, Kate would crawl out of the wreckage, just as she had on the Citadel, and Liara's life could go on.

Chakwas' face was suddenly much older. "Liara..." She took Liara in her arms and held her as she cried, rocking back and forth, as the shadows crept up the wall, then faded away, and the moon rose, until her friend was able to sleep.

Chakwas came and sat for hours, even sleeping in the visitor's chair sometimes. She often read a medical journal, or a book of old stories about a human named Sherlock Holmes. She read a few of those stories aloud to Liara, who lived for them. They were her only refuge, however brief. Chakwas made it clear that Liara didn't have to talk to her, or take note of her at all; she was just there in case she was needed. Liara wanted to tell her how grateful she was, but it was hard to put the words together.

One day there was a tall, broad, dark-skinned man in a dark blue tunic. On him, it looked like a uniform, though he wore no insignia. "Dr. T'Soni? We never met, except briefly, at Lieutenant Alenko's wake. I'm Captain Anderson."

That got a flicker of life from her. "Councilor Anderson. You were Shepard's old captain."

His smile was wan. "That's right. She couldn't have stopped Saren without you. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing." A glance at her face was enough. He exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry. May I sit down for a moment?"

"Yes, of course." Liara had spoken more words to him than she had to anyone, except Chakwas, in a month. Kate had always seemed to regard Anderson as almost the father she had never really had, and Liara could see why. Here was the Old Man made real. Liara found that she wanted him to like her.

He cast about for the approach to take. "I read the reports. You helped get a lot of people onto the shuttles. Some of whom wouldn't have made it otherwise. I'm proud of you. More importantly, she would be too."

Liara seemed to shrink within herself. "I - " She swallowed. "I wanted to get her onto one." She needed him - someone - to understand. "I tried to, but - " Her throat locked up.

Anderson's face hardened. "She wouldn't have gone, Liara. No one could have gotten her off that ship before she was ready to go. Not God, and not you."

Liara shuddered and took in several ragged breaths, as if something was squeezing her chest and she was fighting for air.

He put his hand over hers for a moment. "You did as well as a trained officer or crewman could have done, even after years of experience. But, for a while, maybe a long time, all you're going to see is what you think you could have done better. If she were here instead of you, she'd be doing the same thing. It's - well, human nature, if you'll pardon the expression."

Slowly, she relaxed, and took a deep, clear breath. A little of the weight seemed to have lifted.

He smiled. "One of these days, we'll sit down together and I'll tell you some stories."

She tried to smile back. "Yes, I would like that. I..." Her chest seized up and the tears came without warning. She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders shook. Once, through her fingers, she caught a glimpse of his broad, dark face and saw that it, too, was wet.

That night, in her sleep, Anderson was waiting for her in the Normandy's escape shuttle. "You let her die," he said. She awoke with a cry of horror.

Even Ashley Williams came by a couple of times, trying awkwardly to make conversation with her. Liara replied in monosyllables. She didn't mean to be rude; she just couldn't, for the life of her, muster a real response. Ashley didn't seem put out; Chakwas must have talked to her beforehand. Eventually, she rose, rested her hand on Liara's shoulder, and left.

Joker had no better luck. His irrepressible buoyancy had finally met its match; he seemed almost as despondent as Liara. She remembered her initial dislike of him. We almost died out there, and your pilot is making jokes? It must be a human thing. She saw now that his sarcasm, his arrogance, were all a mask. A shield. She thought that when this was over, when she got out of here, she would have to look him up, see how he was doing.

And then what? she asked herself. The many centuries of the rest of her life stretched before her, a prison sentence. She never wanted to see another dig site. She wanted to be sailing the stars, with her Kate. But Kate was gone. Liara looked out the window. The red and gold leaves were gone from the trees, whose empty branches clawed at the cold gray sky. How fitting, she thought. All the color, all the life, had drained from the world.

All right then, think. You could stay with the Alliance. Or sign on with the Asari fleet. They would have to give you a posting. Become a captain, like Shepard. Fight the Reapers. That is what she would want you to do. Except that no one believes they are real. They are going to come and kill us all.

So? They have killed you already. She closed her eyes.

At last, though, there came a visitor who made a real difference, even more than Chakwas.


	6. Chapter 6

Chakwas was reading "The Speckled Band" aloud to Liara when he walked in, followed by a pale, raven-haired woman who was plainly unhappy to be there. He wore an Alliance Navy uniform, with silver eagles on his collar. He shuffled and leaned on a cane. His close-cropped hair was nearly white, matching his small, neat mustache. He wore a stylish pair of glasses with lenses were so dark as to be opaque. The sight of him set off alarms inside Liara. Whoever and whatever he was, he was not an elderly Alliance captain.

He nodded to each of them in turn. "Dr. Chakwas. Dr. T'Soni." His voice was deep, slightly raspy. "I apologize for the interruption." He gestured to the woman. "This is my associate, Miranda. May I sit down for a moment?" Chakwas had already vacated her seat in deference to his obvious infirmity, though she had picked up on Liara's reaction and she, too, watched him. Miranda leaned against the doorway.

He let out a deep sigh as he settled into the chair, though it was hardly comfortable. "I wanted to express my deepest regrets, to both of you - " he took in Chakwas with a glance - "for the loss of your captain. I didn't know her as you did, but it was my loss as well, and the galaxy's loss."

"Thank you," Chakwas said, "Captain..."

He smiled. "I'll get to that in a moment, if you'll bear with me."

Chakwas said, "I can have security in here before I finish saying the word."

He didn't even blink. "I understand your concern. I assure you, if I weren't on the level, I wouldn't be here. Will you hear me out?"

Liara glanced at Chakwas. She didn't care whether she herself lived or died. It was Chakwas she worried about. Still, she was confident in her biotics. If the man - or the woman - tried anything, they'd be on the floor before they finished it. And she was curious - in fact, she realized with a start, for the first time, she was thinking about something other than - she caught Chakwas' eye and nodded.

Chakwas didn't look happy, but she said, "All right, say your say."

Moving slowly, he crossed one leg over the other and interlaced his fingers. "I won't waste your time. I came here because I need your help - and, in turn, I might be able to help you. As you've guessed, I'm not with the Alliance. I'm afraid my disguise is necessary. I represent an organization that works outside official channels. One with an interest - " he inclined his head - "in finding Commander Shepard."

A flush had risen into Chakwas' face. "Start making sense, please."

"Very well. Dr. T'Soni, you asked me who I was." He glanced at Miranda, who nodded, presumably to signal that no one else was in earshot. Liara tensed. Again slowly, he removed the glasses. "Miranda and I are with Cerberus."

After the Kohaku incident, Shepard had let them all read the Alliance dossiers on Cerberus. They recognized him. Chakwas opened her mouth - to tell him to get out, to call security, she wasn't sure what - then closed it again. She glanced at Liara. Liara nodded again. "I...think it's him."

Chakwas looked back at him. "You're the worst terrorist alive, at the head of the worst terrorist gang. I've seen the things your butchers have done." She didn't raise her voice; she sounded as if a talking snake had waltzed into her med-bay. "You'll never leave here. They'll bury you in gaol."

Miranda shifted her weight.

The man looked between Chakwas and Liara. "You could, indeed, make my life difficult, though perhaps less so than you believe. But I'm not here to argue with you. I came in person to show you that my intentions are serious."

They waited.

"All right. Commander Shepard was - is - a symbol to all humanity. An asset, if I may be blunt. One that we want, very much, to recover."

"Recover?" Liara began to understand. "You want to give her a - proper burial?"

But he shook his head. "A good thought, but no. There's no easy way to say this. We want to try to bring her back."

"Back..."

"Back to life." He turned to Chakwas, spoke over her objection. "You keep up with the literature, Doctor. You know that several promising ideas have come up in just the last few years. Many of them, in fact, came from our research." If he thought about saying, "from our butchers," he gave no sign of it. He went on, "We are prepared to dedicate resources to making those ideas a reality, in the case of Commander Shepard. We are, in fact, prepared to spend every credit we have, and more besides."

His eyes took on a fire beyond their already unnatural glow and the old man's rasp hardened to steel. He was, all at once, just who and what he said he was. "You and I know that the Council, and even humans like Ambassador Udina, will never stop the Reaper threat. You saw it yourself when you had to steal the Normandy to go to Ilos. You bet everything you had - your careers, your lives - because you knew what had to be done. People like you, and Shepard, are the ones who will stop the Reapers. And, indirectly, people like me."

He turned back to Liara. "Dr. T'Soni, I'm aware of what you in particular are going through, and I sympathize. I don't want to give you - either of you - any false hope. What I'm suggesting might not be possible. The Commander's body might be too far gone to find, or to save. I'm sorry to speak of such things, but we have to, if we're serious about this."

"We don't know a lot about - " He stopped. "No. We know you and Shepard shared a very powerful bond. One that, we believe, will help you to find her, in a way that mere instruments cannot."

Liara spoke. "You have been looking?"

"Intently. But it's like looking for a needle in a haystack." He saw her blank look, and ventured a small smile. "Or an altruist on Ilium."

"Ah." That she understood. She even smiled back - it was the barest twitch of one corner of her mouth, but it was the first one Chakwas had seen from her.

"There's another reason we need your help. We believe someone else is looking as well."

"What?"

"Yes. There are other ships in the area. They pretend to be hunting salvage from the Normandy's wreck, but they're not as subtle as they think."

"Why would someone else want the - body?" Chakwas asked.

"We don't know." He caught her expression and added, "Really. We don't know. Whatever it is, I think you and I can agree that we need to find it first."

"Or maybe you're making it up, to convince her. Maybe you just want to get your hands on her so you can conduct one of your famous experiments. Say, to determine the effects of exposure to Prothean ruins on Asari biotic abilities - since you were about to tell us that you don't know much about them, isn't that right?" Chakwas said. "Another lie."

He nodded. "Doctor, I don't blame you for being suspicious." He started to reach into his suit pocket for a cigar, then remembered he wasn't wearing a suit. "If she decides she wants to go, I'll give any guarantee of her safety you ask. Within reason, of course."

"Fine," Chakwas said. "Yourself."

"Within reason."

"Then give her an untraceable credit chip with some of your unlimited funds. We'll hire a ship and go look ourselves. If we find anything, then we'll consider letting your...scientists look at it."

Miranda rolled her eyes.

"Done," the boss said.

Chakwas blinked.

"However," he added, "it's not safe. These other people are in deadly earnest. We've already had to destroy a couple of their ships. And whatever destroyed the Normandy is still out there somewhere. You'll need an escort."

"Forget it."

He looked at her and considered. "All right. By all accounts, Dr. T'Soni can handle herself, and you wouldn't have been on the Normandy if you weren't the best. But it had better be a good ship, with a good pilot. I'd give you some names, but you wouldn't take those either."

"If any of your people get near us, it's all off. Remember, I don't think this can be done."

"You have my word - provided that, if you find Shepard, you agree to let our people look at her."

"So you can grab her."

He allowed his patience to slip a little. "Then examine her yourself and let us see the results. You're as knowledgeable as anyone, Doctor. At that point we'll all decide whether to proceed."

Miranda said, "We need more of a guarantee than that."

He shook his head. "The good doctor drives a hard bargain, but she's a woman of her word. However, we're neglecting Dr. T'Soni." He turned to her.

She didn't need to be asked. "Yes."

He looked into her face, thought about cautioning her again that this might all come to nothing, and decided against it. "Very well." Slowly, the old man again, he rose to his feet. "You and I won't meet again, but Miranda will be in touch. If there's anything you need, let her know."

Liara said, "I have to see a psychologist for an hour every day, and I am tired of it." Suddenly the words just spewed out. "I am tired of this hospital, I am tired of being around humans I do not know, I am tired of their food, I am tired of Earth, and I am tired of - " of being without my Kate, she wanted to say. Tears brimmed in her blue eyes and trickled down her cheeks. "- of hearing about Kubler-Ross and her fucking Five Stages of Loss." The room was silent for a moment.

The man said, "Well, you just beat her at her own game. If I remember right, she only made it to the bargaining stage. Then she got hit by a bus."

Liara stopped crying and giggled. Then she looked surprised.

He smiled. "I can see why she liked you, Liara. Good luck." He walked to the door.

"Just a minute," Chakwas said.

* * *

"You son of a bitch," Chakwas said. She, Miranda, and he were standing out on the front steps of the visitor entrance, their breath smoking in the icy air.

Miranda said, "That's - "

"Please." He held up his hands. He turned to Chakwas. "You didn't have to agree to this, Doctor."

"Nonsense. If I hadn't, she'd never have spoken to me again. You picked her because you knew she'd agree. The others would have told you to go to hell. She was just starting to get through it. And you sent her right back to the beginning with this - goose chase." Chakwas was near tears herself, but she wouldn't let him see it. It would be so easy to believe him.

He took a deep breath. "Doctor, if it's a false hope, then it's my false hope too." He glanced up at the gray sky, from which the first snowflakes were beginning to fall. "It's all our false hope."

* * *

Liara slept that night, really slept, for the first time since she blacked out on the shuttle.

"Shepard..."

"Get the hell out of here!" Shepard screamed at her, and turned away.

"No," Liara said. "I said, I'm not leaving." She hauled Shepard off the deck in a sparking blue biotic field and dragged her to the open hatch of the escape shuttle, never taking her eyes from her.

"I'll have you court-martialed for this!" Shepard kicked at her.

Liara caught a reflection of her own face on a flickering control panel. The expression on it frightened her. She thrust Shepard through the hatch and into a seat, then slammed the safety harness down. Then she got into her own seat and hit the hatch control with the side of her fist. With a bone-shaking jolt, the shuttle shot away from the Normandy's burning wreckage, surviving the final explosions by inches, reeling end over end before it settled into its course again.

Shepard watched the fading cloud of fire through the viewport. Liara watched her. When there was only starlight again, Kate turned to Liara. Her face was fair, so fair, in sharp contrast to the redness of her straight, jaw-length hair, the blueness of her almond-shaped eyes.

"You were right, Liara," she said. "You were always right. I need your help."

And, somehow, Liara knew it wasn't a dream. It was a flicker, so tiny she could only see it indirectly, from the far side of the bond, in another place, another time. What still lay between here and there, the Goddess only knew.

* * *

"Inexcusable," Miranda said. "Unforgivable." She and her boss sat on a shuttle on route back to his personal ship.

"Chakwas? That's why I like her - and why I put up with you. I have enough yes-men - and women."

"Not Chakwas, you. You're irreplaceable. And she was right. She could have had you arrested, and then all it would take is one person who knew someone on Akuze, or Edolus, or God knows where else, and that'd be it. You'd have an accident before we could do anything."

"I won't live like a prisoner. That's the mistake the Shadow Broker makes, and one day it's going to cost him. If it hasn't already." He reached into his suit pocket and lit a blessed cigar. "Besides, no one who served under Shepard has a reason to love Cerberus. I had to show them we're serious."

"We should have waited until we could get T'Soni alone."

"No time. The Broker's people are turning that nebula inside out as we speak." The tip of the cigar glowed as he puffed. "There was one other thing I didn't tell them. I've been looking over those intercepted transmissions again. I have a hunch about who hired the Broker."

"Who?"

"Let me put it this way. I think they might want Shepard for the same reason we do."

"No."

"You saw in Shepard's report what Sovereign was able to do with - to - Saren, even after he was dead. Losing Shepard forever would be bad enough. But if the Reapers get hold of her...we may indeed see her again. Pointed right back at us."

"Christ." Then she said, "You're not really going to give Chakwas or T'Soni the choice of keeping the body."

"Of course not. Too much is at stake. Once they find it, it's ours. However we have to get it."

"I'll see to it."


	7. Chapter 7

The civilian transport glided to a stop at Citadel Dock 422, shuddering as docking clamps were engaged and the airbridge connected.

"Ready?" Chakwas said. They traveled light. Liara's things had been buried in the collapse on Therum, Chakwas' lost with the Normandy.

"Ready," Liara said. Since leaving the hospital, she was a different person. Chakwas would have been happier had it not been based on what she still thought was a false hope. When this little adventure was over, Liara would be starting over again. Burn that bridge when you come to it, Chakwas told herself.

Waiting for them were both Councilor Anderson and Ambassador Udina. Anderson shook Liara's hand, and paused. "You're looking much better, Doctor," he said. "I'm very happy to see it."

"Thank you, Captain," she said, and meant it. He smiled at being addressed by his old title.

Udina shook her hand as well. She hoped he wouldn't offer his apologies for her loss. That had grown threadbare. He seemed to sense as much, and kept to a polite greeting.

They were walking to the elevator when Anderson said, "Damn it."

A voice called to them. "Councilor? Ambassador?" The woman threaded her way through the crowd, a small camerabot darting to keep up with her.

"Who is it?" Chakwas said.

"That Al-Jilani person from Westerlund News." Liara sensed Anderson had been about to say something other than "person".

"What does she want?" Liara said.

"Dirt," Udina said.

"Why would she want that?"

"And Doctor Chakwas, of the Normandy," Al-Jilani said as she caught up to them. She turned to Liara. "And Dr. Liara T'Soni. How does it feel to be one of the first aliens to serve on an Alliance vessel?"

"She has no comment," Anderson said.

"I was not aware I was an alien," Liara said dryly.

Al-Jilani smiled. "I stand corrected. I presume the two of you have arrived to attend Commander Shepard's funeral?"

"Funeral?" Liara asked.

Chakwas shot Al-Jinani a dirty look. "The funeral is being held here tomorrow," she said to Liara, "but that's not why we're here."

"With the loss of her captain, the Normandy's crew is scattering to the four winds," Al-Jilani said, tapping her omni-tool. "Very sad."

Liara looked at her, surprised by the aptness of the words. Again she saw the leaves falling from the trees and blowing away. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back. She had a purpose now. She would not let that happen. She would not.

"I am sorry, Miss Al-Jilani, but we must be on our way," Udina said, ushering them toward the elevator that would take them to their quarters.

"Doctor," Al-Jilani said to Liara, "I'm told that you and Commander Shepard had a relationship. Can you comment on that?"

"She has no comment," Anderson bit the words out one at a time.

"Go away," Chakwas said. Her face and voice were flat and hard. She stepped forward.

I love you, Liara. I don't care who knows it, or what they think. Liara caught Chakwas' arm. "It is all right, Doctor. Really."

Chakwas looked at her for a second, then let out her breath. "All right. Let's go."

Al-Jilani clearly wanted to follow them into the elevator, but she seemed to know what would happen to her if she did. As the doors closed, she caught Liara's eye.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Udina snorted.

"No," Liara said. There had been something..."I think she meant it."

She could feel their skepticism, but they didn't argue with her.

* * *

"A ship?" Garrus said. He was tilted back in his chair, cleaning his sniper rifle. He'd resigned from C-Sec when he joined the Normandy, so Liara couldn't imagine where he'd had the chance to use it lately. He, Chakwas, and Liara sat around a small table in his cramped Citadel apartment.

"Yes, and a pilot she can trust," Chakwas said.

"I?" Liara asked. "You are not coming?"

"I'm sorry, Liara," she said. "They gave me leave to look after the Normandy survivors - " Liara knew Chakwas meant her - "but I've been reassigned. Another ship." She tried a small smile. "You know how it is. You go where they tell you."

"You are tired of - babysitting me," Liara said, "so you are handing me off to Garrus."

"Liara," Garrus said.

Chakwas said, "You've never needed babysitting."

Liara put her hands over her face. It was very hard to lower them and look at Chakwas. "Doctor...I - "

"It's all right," Chakwas said, and Liara knew it was. "There's no easy way to do this. But you have your direction now."

"You think it is a - goose chase." There was no anger now, just honesty.

Chakwas took a breath. "Probably. I don't thank that man for setting you on it. But it's something you need to do. We all heal in our own way."

Liara glanced at Garrus. He's glad, she realized. To help me. He probably sits there and cleans that rifle several times a day. It's the only connection he has left. To Shepard, to when he was fighting for something. And it is time for the Doctor to go on with her life. Leaves on the wind...her vision misted again, and she bit her lip, hard.

She stood up, and Chakwas with her. She held her arms out. "Thank you," she said. She rested her head on Chakwas' shoulder and closed her eyes. Chakwas rocked her back and forth for a moment, as she had on that first awful night in the hospital.

"I'll be on the Belleau Wood," Chakwas said. "If you need me, we'll find some way to meet up." Liara knew she meant it.

* * *

"Good pilots? Yes. Trustworthy pilots? Yes. Good, trustworthy pilots? None that I know," Garrus said. "So, I'll just pick a good one and go along for the ride." He and Liara were walking together to Chora's Den, to meet one of his contacts.

Liara thought of Joker. But he, too, was gone, reassigned to one of the new Normandy-class ships, the Stirling. "What about the Migrant Fleet? Tali might be able to pry one of their ships loose."

He shook his head. "Not for this. From what you've told me, we'll need either lots of guns, or speed and stealth. Quarian liveships aren't built for either."

She looked at him. "I appreciate this, Garrus."

"I'm the one who should thank you. I want to be doing something. Not sitting in front of an empty casket bawling my eyes out, or trying not to shoot one of those damned reporters."

"You are not going to the funeral either?"

"I've had enough funerals lately. Funerals are where you say goodbye to dead people. She isn't dead. Not for us. And I'm not ready to say goodbye, not any more than you are."

She glanced sidelong at him. "You are angry."

He let out a long breath. "Yes, I'm angry. Angry at myself for not being there. Angry at whoever or whatever did this to her. It wasn't her time. And it wasn't right. If she'd died fighting Saren it'd be one thing. But these bastards just crept up and stabbed her in the back. I'm angry at the fools who sent her out there because they didn't want to face up to what she discovered. Hell, I'm angry at her for going." They walked in silence for a few moments. "I'm angry at her for being gone."

He has been going through this alone, Liara thought. There was no Dr. Chakwas for him. Maybe this is where she should have been. Or maybe there just are not enough of her.

"Why is it so hard for us?" she asked. "Dr. Chakwas knew her much longer than we did. So did Captain Anderson. But they can let her go."

"They've lost people before," he said. "So has Shepard, for that matter. I guess, after it happens enough, you get used to it. It's not something I ever want to get used to."

"Me neither."

"Do you really think Cerberus can bring her back?"

Liara's face hardened. "I do not know. But it is all I have left."

The human waiting for them was small, thin, and hunched, with a ring of close-cropped brown hair around his bald head, and a sour expression. He put Liara in mind of a rodent.

"Harkin," Garrus said.

"Let's get this over with," Harkin said. He looked at Liara and clearly wanted to say something else, but another glance at Garrus changed his mind.

"You're learning, Harkin," Garrus said. "I need to find Feron."

"You finally gonna ask him to marry you?"

"I take it back. You're not learning."

"I heard about your friend Shepard." Harkin shook his head mournfully. "What a waste. A nice piece like that."

Garrus' hand shot out, seized Harkin by the collar of his shirt, and dragged him half onto the table. Harkin's half-finished glass of synthale splashed to the floor, but didn't break. Like Harkin, it was made for abuse.

"Want to tell her that yourself?" Garrus asked.

"Hey!" Harkin yelled at the bouncer. "You just let people walk in here and rough your customers up?"

The bouncer folded his arms. "As long as he does a good job."

"You don't tip worth a damn anyway," a waitress added.

"You should practice making friends, Harkin," Garrus said. "It comes in handy."

"Yeah?" Harkin wheezed. "How many - urg - Christmas cards have you gotten from your old friends in C-Sec?"

"But I have the best friends anyone could want, Harkin. Viper, Mattock, and Carnifex. Don't worry, I'll introduce you one of these days."

Harkin grinned. "Well, now that I've got you where I want you, let's talk credits."

Garrus shoved him back into his seat, nearly knocking the chair over backward. Harkin adjusted his shirt, gasping. "Maybe Feron doesn't want to be found," he said.

"He owes me a favor."

"Then he really doesn't want to be found. A hundred thousand."

Garrus looked at Liara. "Who is this guy?"

Liara smiled at Harkin. "Have you faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have."

His smirk slipped. "You wouldn't, honey."

She concentrated. Harkin winced as a single hair was yanked from the side of his head. Then another, and another.

"Ouch! Stop it, goddamnit!" He clapped his hands to the sides of his head. Liara felt badly about it, but not that badly. It was more unnerving than painful.

"Better be reasonable, Harkin," Garrus said. "You won't have any left soon."

"Fine. Fine." Harkin kept his hands near his head. "Twenty thousand, just because it's you."

"You'll look pretty funny with one eyebrow, Harkin. Your romantic life has suffered enough with me back on the Citadel, rounding up people's stray pets."

"Jesus!" Harkin clapped his hands in front of his face. "He's on Omega!"

"He'd better be," Garrus said. He nodded to Liara. "She has a long range. Light-years." He stood up. "Bartender, get this man another drink. On him."


	8. Chapter 8

"How will we find Feron?" Liara asked. They were on another transport, rather less comfortable than the one that had taken Liara to the Citadel.

"He'll find us. Harkin will have told him we're coming. The man's a born stool pigeon."

Liara didn't think she wanted to remember that idiom. "Will Feron not leave before we get there, then?"

"Not now. He has honor, of a sort."

"Why does he owe you a favor?"

"What else? I kept him out of jail."

"What for?"

Garrus shook his head.

Liara just watched him.

He looked out the viewport. "It was about five years ago. There was a lot of organized crime on the Citadel. More than now, anyway. The Blue Suns had gotten bored with just being guns for hire. They were branching out - running drugs, guns, even slaves. But their security was good enough that C-Sec was getting nowhere. Every time we thought we'd found a leak, he'd turn up dead, or it'd turn out to be a trap. Finally, we managed to get someone in. It took us nearly a year. He was a Drell named Feron. I was his handler. We'd used him for a few small jobs before and he always came through. As it turned out, that was the problem.

Of course, you didn't get in just by getting the tattoo. You had to prove yourself. We managed to make most of it fairly harmless. He started off running red sand for them. We overlooked it. He stole some credits. We covered them. He eliminated several rivals, both in the Suns and out. As far as I was concerned, he was doing us a favor. Finally, he "killed" a couple of troublesome C-Sec officers and we sent them on paid vacations until the thing was over.

At the rate he was going, in another few months he'd be running the damn outfit. The bosses - there were three of them; the thing was run by committee, strangely enough - were starting to get nervous. But, for now, he was still useful, so they held off on doing anything drastic. He couldn't get to them, legally or otherwise. Yet."

Garrus stared out into space for a while. "Then they decided to try their hand at ransom. One of the bosses, a human named Towns, oversaw the job himself. Feron was his number two. It was to be his final test. They didn't tell him about it until the night before, and they were watching him, so he had no way to tip us off. I found all this out later.

They hit the Lakeside Academy in the Presidium. One of the Asari Councilor's daughters went there. That's how arrogant these bastards had gotten. They figured they'd split the take, leave the triggermen, including Feron, holding the bag, and retire to Ilium.

Of course, it didn't go right. The place had a silent alarm - which they disabled - but a C-Sec patrolman happened to walk by outside at the right moment and heard a scream. So we responded faster than they expected. It turned into a standoff. I was supposed to be one of the snipers, but I figured Feron might be in on this. So I went up to the front line, ready to give him the signal to break his cover. They all wore armor, of course, but I could tell him by the way he moved. He saw me, too.

We shut off the lights in the place. Standard procedure; take away control of their environment, wear them down bit by bit. But Towns knew that too. He picked the Councilor's daughter - by far his most valuable hostage - and ordered Feron to put his gun to her head. He gave us sixty seconds to get the lights back up. Feron managed to give me a nod - Towns wasn't kidding. I got on my suit radio and passed the word. But my order was overridden. There was a Spectre on the Citadel and he'd decided to take charge of the situation. One guess who it was."

"Goddess."

"Yeah. Saren didn't know we had a man inside. He said once we started backing down, we'd never see the hostages alive again. I guess he would know. We had ten seconds left. So I gave Feron the signal. Towns expected trouble from us, not him. Feron could drop him, then get himself and the girl to cover. We had our shots lined up. We were ready.

When I heard the gunshot, I wondered who had opened up too soon. Then I realized Feron had pulled the trigger."

Liara closed her eyes.

"There was blood everywhere. Screaming. We all opened up, and so did they. Twenty minutes later, we were in there sorting through the mess. We got Towns, and five others. By some miracle, there were only two other dead hostages, besides the girl. And no Feron.

Naturally, Saren managed to blame C-Sec for the whole thing. He could have talked Towns and his thugs down, he said. We triggered the massacre by turning the lights out. The officer in charge was "retired" outright, and no one who was there saw another promotion for years. The only reason it wasn't worse is, I was the only one who knew Feron shot the girl. The report blamed it on one of the dead mercs.

The remaining two Suns bosses elected Feron to replace Towns. Giving C-Sec a bloody nose was enough to establish his credibility with them. A week later, they both turned up dead, along with assorted aides, bodyguards, and common thugs. Feron's way of atoning. He was thorough. That was the end of the Blue Suns on the Citadel for a long time. Feron himself was killed when the bomb he set for the last boss went off too soon and got both of them."

"A blind," Liara said.

"Yeah. I took some leave - which C-Sec was more than happy to give me - and eventually I hunted him down. There were two things he knew that we didn't. First, the Councilor's daughter was in on it. They promised her a cut of the ransom money - not that they intended to come through, of course. So she disabled the silent alarm."

Liara shook her head once. "What was the second?"

"Feron left a note that pointed us to a small shipping company the Suns used to move red sand. We took it apart and found a canister of bioweapons. He claimed to have learned about it only just before the attack on the Academy. They were going to put the stuff into the ventilation system, infect the Citadel, and then ransom the cure.

"It was scary - engineered. The filters wouldn't have caught it. Worse, the cure didn't work. The Suns would have used it and then died along with everyone else. Tidy. We still don't even know who sold it to them. Normally I'd blame Cerberus, but this stuff would have killed humans, too. Maybe they figure humans on the Citadel are all alien collaborators anyway. Who knows."

Liara was quiet for a long time. "So you let Feron go."

"Yeah. I'm not sure he was telling the truth, but I couldn't prove he wasn't. And if he was, I'm not sure he was right. That kid didn't deserve to die, and the others sure didn't. But would I have pulled that trigger, to keep my cover and find those germs before they were used? I've asked myself that a few times since then. I don't have an answer."

Liara said, "He could have broken his cover and then told you about the bioweapons right away."

"They didn't show up on our scanners. If the bosses hadn't all been killed, if we hadn't had that warehouse surrounded before anyone inside knew we were there, if we hadn't known what to look for..." He shook his head.

Liara said, "So that is why you let him go. He made the choice for you."

He nodded. "Yeah. We got the benefit and he got the blame. But the fact remains that he's capable of anything, good cause or no. That's why I'm going with you."

Liara sat back and took out a present the Illusive Man had left for her upon her departure from the hospital. She tapped twice on the corner of the package, and the holo-wrapping faded away. Her blue eyes widened.

"The Valley of Fear," she said, running her fingers over the leather cover and gingerly turning the ancient, yellowed pages. "Autographed." A card fell from between the pages and fluttered to the deck. She picked it up.

"S.H. always gets his man - or woman - and so will you. I.M."

* * *

The transport stopped with a jolt that pushed Liara into her restraint belts. The other passengers had ignored the warnings and were out of their seats, pushing toward the exits or the luggage compartments. The jolt knocked several to the floor, where they were kicked and trampled.

Garrus stood and stretched. "Welcome to Omega, the world without law." For him, that was fully as bad as the Asari name for it - "the heart of evil".

He made no effort to hide the sniper rifle on his back or the heavy pistol at his right hip. Liara was glad he was here. Any would-be attackers would expect her to be a biotic, but they wouldn't know how strong. Garrus, however, painted a clear enough picture for even the most stupid or desperate thugs. Even more than the guns, his body language and alert eyes said that to challenge him was death.

So Liara was surprised when a batarian came toward them, shoving through the crowd. He was smart enough to keep his hands in plain sight. Liara let her senses reach out to the crowd around them, in case he was to distract them from someone coming up behind them. She recoiled from the drifting layers of noise and stench: unwashed bodies sodden with cheap liquor or perfume; a babble of alien languages united only in the tones of greed, lust, hatred, and fear. But she felt nothing directed at them in particular. She caught Garrus' eye and nodded briefly.

"Officer Vakarian," the batarian said. "Dr. T'Soni."

Garrus grimaced. "I'd have preferred anonymity."

"Don't flatter yourself," the batarian assured him. "No one here knows or cares who you are. Except the only one who matters. Aria's looking forward to seeing you again."

Liara looked at Garrus in surprise. Garrus said, "This trip is going to be more educational than I hoped. There'll be tea and cookies, maybe even a friendly game of bridge if our friend here has time."

The batarian led them past the long line of people waiting to get into Afterlife, the unlikely seat of Aria's power. Liara had the sense of walking ever deeper into the lair of some mythical beast. With every step there were more armed guards between her and the exit, far too many for even she and Garrus to fight through. If Aria wanted them dead, she had but to make the needed gesture. Yet all Liara felt was curiosity.

The guards let them keep their weapons. Aria's biotic abilities were well known. No gun ever made would let them punch through her barriers before the guards mowed them down. After a final scan for bombs, bioweapons, and sundry other tools of assassination, they were allowed up the last set of stairs.

Aria was sitting in the same way Garrus had last seen her: one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlaced in her lap. She nodded them to a seat.

Liara looked at her, trying to see Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen of Omega, who had singlehandedly overthrown the former Krogan kingpin, who had killed the Goddess knew how many people with her own hands. But she seemed like any other Asari, though her eyes were a bit harder than most.

"As I recall," Aria said by way of greeting, ignoring Liara, "you agreed never to set foot on Omega again."

"We'll be gone as soon as we can. Even better, we'll be taking another thorn in your side with us."

"Ah, yes. The Drell."

"Why is a nice girl like you talking to a pyjak like Harkin?"

"You didn't know how to flatter the last time you were here, Garrus. And you still don't, but at least you're trying. You were smart to pick up the schoolgirl here - she's civilizing you."

Garrus didn't bother to correct her. "Another way I can flatter you is by not wasting your valuable time. Tell us where Feron is and we'll be leaving."

"Unfortunately, I had to detain him. He killed someone he wasn't supposed to."

"Oh, dear," Garrus said. "What kind of bail did you have in mind?"

She smiled. Her smile was not pleasant. "You know me. I deal in favors, not credits."

"I'm not going to kill anyone for you, Aria."

"You didn't have a problem killing the last time you were here."

"Yes, but those people deserved it."

"And the people I want dead don't deserve it?" Aria shook her head at Liara. "Keep working on him, schoolgirl."

Liara leaned forward, forgetting the dozens of armed thugs around them. "I am not a schoolgirl. Nor am I his whore."

Aria laughed. "I can tell that just by the way you say it. If you were, I'd still have some hope for him." She turned to Garrus. "I wonder just what price you would kill for. We all want something badly enough. One day, I'll find out what."

He said nothing.

She sat back. "So you want Feron. You hardly need him to kill anyone. But he's a decent pilot. The kind you'd need if you were going somewhere dangerous. Such as...?"

He folded his arms. "Is that what you want?"

She ignored him. "Garrus Vakarian and Dr. Liara T'Soni, late of the SSV Normandy, which was recently destroyed here in the Omega Nebula by an unknown attacker. Both personally loyal to Commander Kate Shepard, who perished in the attack. T'Soni especially so. Where would these two people be going?"

Liara just waited. She knew Aria wasn't thinking this through for the first time. She was just showing them that there were no secrets from her.

Aria said, "In search of revenge? No. The two of you alone would be killed. To look for the Normandy's wreckage? The Alliance will do that. That only leaves one answer, but it doesn't make sense either." She looked at them. "So. Why all this trouble over a body?"

Liara said, "Human burial rituals are important."

"Not that important. Maybe you want to clone her. But a clone won't have the memories, the experiences. This is an act of desperation. The Alliance must have suffered more in the geth attack than I realized."

Garrus shifted in his seat as though Aria had hit on a guilty secret.

Aria looked at Liara. "Either that, or you just really miss her."

Liara couldn't help her mouth tightening. Coming from Aria, it sounded obscene.

"Such a romantic," Aria sighed. "The good news is, my little favor is in both our interests."

"What?" Garrus said flatly.

"A human female named Jolene Kovelli arrived on Omega about a month ago. She auditioned as a dancer at Afterlife. I hired her - not only could she dance, but she was obviously a spy. I wanted to know who she worked for."

Aria leaned back. "I heard that she was looking for an Asari named Adessa. A matriarch. Apparently that wasn't a good idea, because Kovelli disappeared three days ago."

"Dead, then," Garrus said. To Liara, the words were the more chilling because they clearly came not from callousness, but experience.

"Probably," Aria agreed. "I want to know why. Otherwise, there'll be more where she came from. I don't need more spies from Cerberus or whoever sent her."

"Why do I get the feeling she was really up to something bad and you're just portraying her as a lost waif to elicit my sympathy?"

"This Adessa is the one who interests me. She didn't come here under that name. No one has seen her. The only thing I've heard about her is that she's in the market for trophies. Exotic ones."

"Trophies?" Liara asked.

"Slaves," Garrus said. His tone was disgusted, but thoughtful. "Or bodies."

"Yes," Aria said. "Now that you're here, it makes sense. Asari don't buy slaves on Omega. The high-end market is on Ilium and I'm happy to leave it there; too many people get killed over that kind of money. And how many new and exotic species do you find in the Omega Nebula? The place has been mapped for centuries."

"Then Shepard's body might be what she's after," Garrus said. "And if she's here, she must have a seller."

Aria nodded. "And this Kovelli woman might be a rival bidder."

As they stood to go, she said, "A few words of advice."

"Let's not tell her Christmas was last month," Garrus said to Liara.

"One, let Dr. T'Soni do the talking."

"But I have hardly said a thing," Liara said.

"That's the idea," Aria told her. "Your friend has 'cop' written all over him, even before he displays his fabled wit."

"Let us have Feron now, then," Garrus said. "He can blend in. And it'll be more fun with him along."

"I don't sell on credit. Even to honest people. Two, try not to kill so many people this time. It's bad for business."

"And you get tired of speaking at the funerals."

"Three," Aria said to Liara. "Don't eat the kind of shit I gave you. That's why more people didn't notice your research. That, and most people are fools."

"You read my - "

"Don't look so surprised. Information is power. Even if it's about people who vanished fifty thousand years ago. Whatever it was could happen again. If it does, I will be ready."

You have no idea, Liara thought. But, after another look at those eyes, she thought that maybe Aria wasn't so wrong.

As they walked out, Garrus said, "I've never heard her say anything like that before. She must like you."


	9. Chapter 9

"Where are we going to look?" Liara said. They were walking back from Afterlife toward the commercial district.

"I still know a few people on Omega. They might have seen something."

"No one has told Aria anything."

"Whatever her biggest worry is, this isn't it. That's why we get to do it."

"I would try dancing myself," Liara said, "but..."

"Forget it," Garrus said. "If this woman heard anything about Adessa at all, it was probably during pillow talk."

Liara shrank a little, but said, "If that is what it takes to find Shepard, I will do it."

He looked at her. "I know. But you won't have to." He reached into a pocket and handed her a credit chip. "We'll take some of Aria's advice. The next door on the left is the Paradise Hotel. Go in and book a room. One bed - I'll sleep on a cot. Use a fake name. I'll wait here."

Liara didn't know what he planned, but she did as told. The Paradise Hotel was now the Hotel Styx, but other than that, it was what she expected - poorly lit to hide the dirt. It was exorbitantly expensive. Liara didn't bother haggling; she sensed that Garrus wanted her to appear young, naive, and scared. She felt like all three. Prothean dig sites were a long way from one of Benezia's palatial residences, but they weren't the heart of evil, either.

When she came back to him, he said, "Now head back to the lower section of Afterlife. Ask for Ish, and tell him you're looking for Adessa. He'll put you off. String him along some, but let him know you'll pay well. Tell him your fake name and your hotel. Then come back here. I'll be following you in case anything happens. If anyone bothers you, defend yourself, but nothing extravagant. We want you to look tempting, but not too tempting."

She started back toward Afterlife, resisting the frequent urges to look behind her and make sure Garrus was there.

"Hey, honey, how much?" a voice called from an alley.

She kept walking, her eyes trying to look everywhere at once.

"Hey, bitch, I'm talkin' to you!" The batarian started toward her.

Apparently that wasn't how one dealt with unwelcome attention here. So Liara hit him with a biotic field that flung him hard into the wall of the alley. He slumped. Other denizens of the alley had darted forward to relieve him of any valuables before he made it to the ground. Liara walked on, feeling sick. She didn't enjoy hurting people. So why were they always forcing her to?

"Mama!" a little human girl cried. She was well dressed, like she'd been separated from a family of tourists. Other people were walking past her without slowing. Liara's senses were already stretched in all directions. No one seemed to be watching the girl.

"Where was the last place you saw your mother?" Liara asked her.

The girl stopped crying and looked at her with huge brown eyes. Her hair was light brown and curly. "I don't know," she said.

Liara looked around. "There is no police station here."

The girl was good. Without her biotic abilities, Liara wouldn't have felt the girl's hand in her pocket as she was looking around. The girl wasn't able to pull her hand back quickly enough when Liara looked down at her, though.

"Young lady, this is no way to go through life," Liara said.

"I can't help it," the girl said. "If I don't bring back credits, my mother hits me."

"You even have a, ah, scam in reserve. Impressive," Liara said without thinking. Garrus must be rubbing off on her.

"Screw you, lady," the girl said. She walked a few feet away and began crying for her mother again.

Liara walked more quickly, and made it back to Afterlife without further incident.

She sat at the bar. The batarian bartender ambled over. She ordered a Skyllian Blitz and set some extra credits on the bar. "I'm looking for Ish." She had to shout to be heard over the pulsing music. She felt ridiculous.

The bartender looked at the credits. "Who wants him?"

"A new customer. Rana Thanoptis." She felt less silly using a borrowed name than a made-up one.

The bartender swept her credits off the bar and ambled away. She saw him say something to a salarian lounging at the end of the bar. The salarian got up and left. She sipped her drink. It tasted like the hospital, as Kate had once said.

Liara wanted to rest her head on the bar and dull her senses until she shut out the noise. What was she doing here? How would this help her find her Kate? And, even if she did, what if nothing could be done? She backed away from the thoughts as if from the edge of an abyss. Going to Omega was easier than facing them. Going to hell would be easier.

"Miss Thanoptis?" It was the salarian from the end of the bar. "Come with me, please."

He led her to a private booth in the corner. As she walked, she sensed Garrus at a dimly-lit table along the far wall, apparently absorbed in the undulations of the Asari dancer on the table in front of him.

Another salarian was waiting in the booth. "Greetings, Miss Thanoptis," he said. "You seem like a good person to know. I'm Ish, and this is Sel." He seemed nervous, even for a salarian. Liara distrusted him at once.

"I am looking for Adessa," she said.

"Adessa? I've never heard of her," he said, but she could feel him tense.

She moved as if to get up. "That is too bad. I was told you could find anyone."

"Interesting. By whom?"

"Harkin, on the Citadel."

Ish brightened. "Ah, yes. A longtime customer." That made Liara trust him even less. He considered. "I'll make some inquiries. I'll need something up front - for expenses, of course."

Liara carelessly flicked a five-thousand-credit chip across the table at him. "Will this suffice?"

He was better than she'd first thought - he just nodded once and said, "For now. Thank you, Miss Thanoptis. I should have something for you in a couple of days. I'll leave you a message." He waited.

"The Hotel Styx." She rose. "I look forward to hearing from you, Mr. Ish."

She could sense someone following her on the way back to her hotel, and it wasn't Garrus. She took care to look nervous, which wasn't hard, but she didn't stop suddenly or look at the reflections in any windows. She made it up to her room, which was barely worthy of the name. Garrus came in half an hour later.

"The guy who followed you is watching the lobby. I came in the staff entrance."

"Why did we not just, ah, shake Ish down, as we did Harkin?"

"He isn't Harkin. He's more dangerous than he seems. And he likely doesn't know where Adessa is," Garrus said. "But he can find out. But first he has to decide which is safer and more profitable: selling her out to you, or you out to her."

"And you think he will choose the latter."

"No doubt. Crossing a matriarch, especially a crooked one, is suicide. He hasn't survived this long by being stupid enough to do that, no matter what you pay him. Besides, he figures he'll get your money anyway."

"He is going to break into our room?"

"His thugs will. That 'couple of days' he told you was to put you off your guard. They'll come tonight."

"Then what?"

"Then we find out where they were going to take you."

"They will not have orders to simply kill me?"

"I doubt it. One person has already disappeared. If this Adessa just wanted to send a message to leave her alone, a body would have turned up by now. But that won't stop someone like Cerberus. They'll just send more. So first she needs to know who it is. And it seems this Kovelli woman hasn't told her yet, which might mean she's still alive. Though she probably wishes she wasn't by now."

Liara chose not to imagine that. "Why would Cerberus look for Matriarch Adessa?"

"Could be the same reason we are. Cerberus is organized into cells. One hand never knows what the other one is doing. And the Illusive Man claims never to know what any of them are doing." He snorted. "Like a bunch of damned cockroaches." He looked at Liara. "I don't feel very good about dragging you through this cesspool with me."

She said, "I have seen some of this in my travels. My research has taken me to places controlled by corrupt bureaucrats and law enforcement, and places with no laws. My mother's name often protected me from what my biotics could not. But now I must learn to protect myself." And her Kate, too.

* * *

Liara's line of work had made her a patient person, but as she lay awake in the dark room and listened to the occasional drunken noise below her window, she wished Adessa's thugs would hurry up and get here. She reminded herself that Garrus, hiding in the cramped closet, had it worse than she did.

Then she heard footsteps in the hallway. It sounded like at least two people. She could have listened for them with her biotically-enhanced senses, but it would have been exhausting. But Garrus had taken a couple of listening devices from his traveling bag - "never leave home without them," he said - and planted them in the hallway. She waited for the footsteps to go on past her door, but they didn't. She didn't wait to listen for someone tapping at his omni-tool - it would likely be silenced anyway. She turned off the tiny receiver and thrust it under her pillow, closed her eyes, and began breathing slowly and deeply.

The door hissed open quietly enough that she could pretend not to be awakened by it - Garrus had worked on it. The intruders had disabled the lights in the hallway, which just made it easier for her to sense them. They moved steadily, silently. Liara was relieved to see that they weren't wearing night-vision visors, and that their hands held tranquilizer pistols, while their heavier weapons were holstered or slung across their backs.

Had it been otherwise, Garrus would have opened up on them from inside the closet. His targeting visor was off. His sniper rifle was coated in nonreflective paint. He wasn't breathing. He was ready.

The plan was Liara's. Garrus wanted to simply ambush the attackers, leaving one alive to interrogate. Liara said the survivor might not know where Adessa was, or might not tell them. Garrus said Liara had been reading too many Sherlock Holmes stories, and this wasn't a game. He finally agreed, on the condition that he could go ahead and shoot if he saw anything he didn't like, however tiny. Liara knew that he would keep his word, however unhappy he was about it.

It took all her concentration to keep her barriers from snapping up as one of the intruders pointed his pistol at the side of her neck. There was a soft "phut". Her body jerked with the brief sting, but it was already receding, and consciousness with it.

The shooter kept the pistol ready, watching carefully. When he was satisifed, he put it away and brought out a handheld medi-scanner. He swept her with it, then put it away and nodded to his companion. Garrus kept his word. He watched as they took Liara away.


	10. Chapter 10

On Omega, an unconscious Asari in her sleeping robe being carried somewhere by two humans wasn't enough to arouse protest, unless the Asari worked for Aria. As far as anyone knew, this one didn't.

Liara was slung backward over the first man's shoulder, and the man behind him was watching for a tail, so no one saw her eyes flicker open thanks to the slow-release stimulant she had taken earlier. As she remembered what was happening, she closed them again and concentrated on keeping her breathing steady and her muscles slack. She was still partly numb from whatever they'd shot her with, which helped. But it felt as if the drugs were waging war inside her.

"Hey," the first man said, slowing. "She doing anything?"

The second man reached for one of Liara's head-tails. It took an immense effort of will to remain limp. She blocked the nerves just in time, but her body still spasmed as he gave one of them a sharp pinch.

"She's out," the second man said. "If she were awake she'd be screaming."

Liara had bitten her lip hard enough to taste blood, to keep the sound in and the tears back.

"Yeah, that'd really help," the first man said. He exhaled. "Get back there and keep watching."

She nearly passed out again. Dimly, she heard the sounds of the nighttime streets fade, then the hissing of a door, then another.

The smells were what woke her. At first, they took her back to the hospital on Earth. First was disinfectant in various flavors. But there were other smells beneath, smells that made her stomach heave. Sweat, and other, less noble fluids. She tried breathing through her mouth, but it felt as if the miasma were coalescing into putrid droplets on her tongue.

There were two other people in the room besides Liara and her abductors. One was lying on a table, the other standing next to it, bent over a set of monitors.

"Any luck?" The man carrying Liara bent and laid her on another table nearby. As he reached for one of the heavy straps that would secure her to it, her left hand whipped into the side of his neck. He gagged, his eyes bulging. She had seized his collar with her left hand and now shot the heel of her right into the same place, snapping his head back. Liara hated hurting anyone, but right now his pain was a welcome distraction from her own.

The other kidnapper almost had his pistol aimed. Liara's biotic field lifted him off his feet and smashed him into the shelving behind him. He sank to the floor, where he was buried under an avalanche of boxes, bottles, tubes, instruments, and other equipment that bounced and rolled in every direction.

The first man wasn't out, but the butt of Garrus' rifle cracking into the back of his head finished it. Garrus turned the rifle on the third person, who was still standing next to the other bed. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open slightly, but her left hand was slowly moving toward a panel in the wall. Garrus twitched the rifle at her. She stopped. At his order, she stepped toward him, hands on her head.

"Any more?" Garrus asked her. The barrel of his rifle was pointed at her stomach. "Think carefully."

"Any...uh, uh, no," she stammered, jerking her head to one side. "No one."

"Liara, there are handcuffs in my right hip pocket," Garrus said.

"Oh God!" the woman cried. "What are you - "

"Shut up." Garrus jabbed her in the stomach. He glanced at the table, where her victim - Kovelli? - was secured with thick straps across her neck, wrists, waist, thighs, and ankles. It was all he could do not to simply smash the rifle butt into the woman's skull. Or pull the trigger. Only when Liara clicked the handcuffs on the woman's wrists did the urges abate. He was still a cop, after all.

They checked and secured the two kidnappers as well, then turned to the woman on the table. She was alive. Her eyes were half-open, but unseeing; her parched lips were moving in some kind of litany. Garrus leaned close and listened. "- don't know...I don't know..."

Her hair was longer and darker than before, her eyes and skin tone lighter, but...

"Garrus..." Liara said. "I know this woman."

"She looks familiar," Garrus said, "but humans tend to look alike to me."

"She was on Noveria. Her name is...Sini something."

"Parasini," Garrus said. "Gianna Parasini. Which might not be her real name either. But what the hell is she doing here?" He shook his head. "It'll keep. What are all these?" Parasini had an intravenous drip inserted, with several smaller packets draining, like tributaries, into the main one.

"Whatever they are, they are not good," Liara said. She turned to the - torturer, Liara supposed - who was kneeling on the floor. "What is your name?"

The woman's eyes fastened on her. They were green. Her hair was brown, shoulder-length, with just the faintest hint of gray. She didn't look like a torturer, just a frightened, middle-aged human woman. "N-Nina. Nina Maxwell."

"Nina, can we unhook that IV safely?" Liara said. She let her eyes flick to Garrus' rifle, to let Maxwell know what would happen if she lied. The way Nina's head jerked up and down made Liara ashamed. She did not want this kind of power.

Garrus was no nurse, but he'd watched his share of medical procedures during his time in C-Sec. He stripped off his suit gloves and clamped off the IV tube. They waited, watching Parasini's vital signs carefully. Parasini stopped mumbling, but otherwise she seemed unaffected. Liara began unfastening the many straps that held her to the table.

"Maxwell?" The voice came from the panel on the wall. It was an Asari.

"Damn it," Garrus whispered. He stepped over to Maxwell and hauled her to her feet, then shoved her over to the panel. He placed the muzzle of his rifle against her lower back.

Maxwell swallowed and cleared her throat. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Has there been any progress?"

Maxwell's face was ghastly white. "No, ma'am, no progress."

Adessa swore. "You told me you'd have results in less than a day."

"I, I'm sorry, ma'am. The subject is very - "

"Keep at it," Adessa said. "Have O'Neil and De Soto brought back this Thanoptis yet?"

"Ah - " Maxwell started. Garrus shook his head. "No, ma'am."

"They must have run into trouble. I'm going over there. Call me if they show up." Adessa cut the channel.

Maxwell slumped, trembling.

Garrus turned back to Parasini. "We've got to pull this now." He held the catheter in place as he peeled away the tape, and pressed a square of gauze against the site as he gently slid out the catheter. "Is there any antidote to this crap?" he asked Maxwell.

"N-no. It should wear off within an hour, though."

"Great," Garrus said. "Liara, take Parasini and get out of here. I'll meet you at our other hotel."

Liara looked at him. You are going to interrogate Maxwell, she thought, or one of the others, and you do not want me to see it. You do not have much time. You will have to be cruel. Then you will have to kill them all. They have seen us, and heard Parasini's name. Then she felt ashamed of her imaginings.

"There is another way," she said.

Garrus shook his head. "I don't know how to administer those drugs, or how long they take."

There were tears in Maxwell's eyes. "Please..."

Liara turned to her and took her shoulders in her hands. For what she had in mind, surprise was best. "It is all right, Nina. You will not be hurt." A lie. She told herself this was a mercy. That she was doing it so Garrus wouldn't have to. That she had to do it, for Shepard. None of it helped.

Maxwell realized what was coming and opened her mouth to scream.

"Embrace eternity!" Liara said.

When Liara came back, she sank to her hands and one knee and threw up on the grimy floor. The room revolved slowly around her. She shook her head, willing it to stop, and spat again and again, trying to rid herself of the taste, and the memory of what she'd just done. Maxwell was sitting propped against the wall, hugging her knees and sobbing quietly.

Garrus knelt and slowly helped her up. "You all right?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. It took a distinct effort to shape the words. "We can go." She hoped he wasn't going to kill Maxwell and the others. She didn't have the strength to argue.

Garrus was standing between her and the main entrance to the room, so he took the brunt of the biotic wave. He knocked Liara down as he smashed into the wall and sat down hard. He began crawling toward his sniper rifle. The rifle leapt away from him, arcing through the air and coming to rest in an outstretched blue hand.

Matriarch Adessa's facial markings were the color of blood, streaking away from her eyes like a tiger's stripes. She checked to make sure a round was chambered, then pointed the barrel at Liara's forehead. It looked about a mile long. Liara didn't bother trying to put up her barriers; in her weakened state, they wouldn't stop a single round from that thing.

"Rana Thanoptis, I take it. Let's start with your real name, and why you're here."

Liara had to concentrate to form words in the face of that rifle. "Who sold me out? Was it Ish?" It was the first thing that came to her. Just keep Adessa talking until she could -

The roar of the rifle in the enclosed space was deafening. The muzzle flash seared Liara's face. She felt little insects stinging the back of her neck, her head. She realized they were bits of debris from the wall behind her. Adessa had averted the rifle just enough.

Liara couldn't hear and could barely see, but she felt a thud nearby. She blinked, trying to clear the afterimages, and saw Parasini, awakened by the shot, had rolled off of her table and landed clumsily on the floor beside her.

Adessa's voice sounded far away. "Name." The sound of her chambering another round was surprisingly clear.

This time there was a double explosion. Adessa staggered, the rifle spewing flame again but sending another round wild, this time into the shelving behind Parasini. Gray liquid spurted out of a shattered container and spattered Parasini and the floor.

The room erupted in thunder. Bullets stitched through the air from behind Adessa. Most of them caught her in the back, but her barriers had been up. Two of them caught Maxwell, her body jerking like a kicked doll, the wall suddenly fanned with her blood. Adessa turned and hurled another biotic field at her attackers. The shooting lessened, but didn't stop. There had to be at least half a dozen shooters out there.

Garrus jerked Liara to her feet. He pushed Liara and Parasini in front of him as he staggered toward the rear door. For the moment, Adessa was blocking most of the bullets, but several pinged off Garrus' armor, the kinetic barriers sizzling and sparking as they overloaded. To Liara's horror, Parasini slowed and looked over her shoulder at Adessa, an emotion on her face that Liara couldn't identify. Sadness? Garrus gave Parasini a stiff shove and got her moving again.

Liara slapped open the door and an icy blast of air hit them. The door led onto a small balcony. Liara estimated they were at least ten floors up.

"Jump!" she said. She did. Then Garrus, and after a few seconds, Parasini.

The farther they fell, the faster they would be going, and the harder it would be to catch them. Liara brought up the biotic field almost at once. For a moment, they continued accelerating, and for a horrid instant she thought they were going to die, smashed heaps of blood and bones, on Omega. Then the field took hold and their descent slowed. Only fear gave her the strength to keep the field up until they landed, and even so, she heard a sickening snap come from Garrus, saw his leg go out from under him, saw him land hard on his side.

He was up almost at once, almost hopping on his remaining good leg, trying to put a little more weight on the broken one with each step so he could run faster. The pain had to be unbelievable. Liara tried to form another biotic field, to carry him, but she had nothing left. Fog clouded the edges of her vision.

"Run!" he said. They did.

* * *

"They've found Team 102," Miranda said. "All dead. Along with Adessa's team. They were restrained, and died in the firefight. She must have decided she couldn't trust them."

The boss rubbed his temple. "And Adessa?"

"Escaped. There's a lot of Asari blood, but the place used to be a medical facility, so we have to assume she was able to patch herself up somewhat."

"What else?"

"Adessa was having Maxwell torture someone. We found a few logs, but they don't tell us much. The subject wasn't cooperative. She was a human female going under the name Kovelli."

"Was Kovelli killed too?"

"No. And that's the interesting part. A witness reported seeing a human woman, a Turian, and an Asari jump from the balcony. Another Asari, who fit Adessa's description, came out and looked for them a few minutes later - presumably after she finished with Team 102 - but then went back inside. She was limping and bleeding."

He exhaled a long, satisfied cloud of cigar smoke. "So T'Soni and Vakarian have some kind of lead on the body. That must be what Adessa's after. But what does a traitor want with Shepard's body?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Any word on that information the Shadow Broker's supposed to be getting on her daughter? That's the key. It has to be."

"None yet."

"Keep at it. Whatever it is, it's probably a lie - Adessa must be working for him if she's looking for that body - but we have to try." He stubbed out his cigar. "Meanwhile, let's hope our second Asari recruit is up to taking out our first."


	11. Chapter 11

Garrus' armor had a modular design that let Liara remove the left boot and lower left legging. Then she cut away the pant leg underneath. Parasini had the quick thinking to grab a couple of tubes of medi-gel that had fallen to the floor during their escape from the clinic. Liara gently smeared most of one over the hard metallic skin of Garrus' tarsus (his lower leg, as she thought of it), but that would only alleviate the pain, not heal the damage. Her omni-tool told her what he already expected: a badly fractured tarsometatarsus.

"I did this to you," she said, her face and voice sick.

"Liara," he said, in the same tone he used when she accused Chakwas of abandoning her. She looked up at him. "You saved all our lives," he said.

"God, yes," Parasini said. "Those people would have killed us, or - " she seemed sad again - "Adessa would have."

Garrus looked sharply at her. "Those weren't your people?"

She shook her head. "I came here alone. I don't know who they were."

"Why were you looking for her? How did all this happen?" Liara asked.

Parasini took a deep breath. "Adessa is - was going to be, I guess - my bondmate. We met on Noveria. She works for Binary Helix."

"Not those people again," Garrus said.

"She wasn't involved with those things you saw - the rachni, and Saren, and, uh, Benezia. No offense, Dr. T'Soni."

"It is all right," Liara said. "Please, go on."

Parasini looked down. "She'd been...acting strangely for several months. She'd go on trips offworld and wouldn't invite me, even for a weekend. I had my own job, of course, but it got so I hardly ever saw her. She said it all had to do with work and she couldn't talk about it. But she knew I worked for Internal Affairs and that I could keep a secret. If I'd been thinking clearly, I'd have realized that was the problem. She was afraid I'd report something.

After a while, I started getting worried. And resentful. I did some digging. Some of the trips were to Thessia. She has no family there, but her daughter did. Adessa never talked much about her, but I know her death was hard on her. I never knew her daughter, so I guess I can understand why she would keep that part of herself private. Anyway, more recently, there were a couple of trips to Ilos."

"Ilos?" Liara said. That had to be the last place she'd expect. "Was she interested in history, then?"

"No. Not at all. Her field is genetic manipulation, and that's all she cares about. That's her passion, I mean. I have no idea why she'd go there, or why she'd keep it from me. My best guess was that something had been found there, something to do with the Protheans, that BH thought they could develop into something. But I have people inside BH, and I haven't heard anything.

The rest of the trips were here. To Omega. This is where I followed her, when I couldn't stand it any more. I'd started thinking she was having an affair. It drove me out of my mind. I had to know what she was doing."

Her words came faster. "She said she was going to be gone for a month this time, maybe more. So I came here - with a new name and appearance, of course - and started digging. I got a job dancing at that hellhole of Aria's, because it seemed like the best place to hear rumors. And I started hearing things about her." She brushed at her eyes. "I heard she was buying slaves. Human slaves. No one knew what she was doing with them, but they were never seen again. I couldn't imagine how she could do it, when she and I - " She closed her eyes, too late to hide the tears brimming in them.

Liara found her hand reaching out and resting on Parasini's shoulder. "It is all right. Take your time, Ms. Parasini."

"Gianna." Parasini managed a shaky smile. "You've helped me out twice now. I'd say we're on a first-name basis."

"Gianna," Liara said. "Does Aria allow this slaving? I know that Omega is outside Alliance jurisdiction, but does Cerberus not interfere?"

Gianna's laugh was bitter. "Aria allows anything as long as she gets her cut. And Cerberus needs test subjects for their experiments."

And how much, Liara thought, does the charming man who visited you in the hospital have to do with that?

Gianna went on, "Eventually, I heard that the Blue Suns had another 'package' for her. They said it was 'type 1', but I don't know what that means. The delivery was - wait, what day is it? I don't even know how long she had me in that..." Her voice trailed off.

Garrus said, "I heard yesterday...cycle 34, orbit 16 - so today would be cycle 35."

"Tomorrow - it's tomorrow morning," Gianna said. "I was going to confront her."

"I think that would be unwise," Garrus said.

Gianna looked down. "I must have let something slip, to someone. I went back to my room, and I think I went to bed, but the next thing I remember, I was -" She put her face in her hands.

Liara patted her back gently. What little she knew about comforting humans, she'd learned from Chakwas. Gianna took several long, ragged breaths, then slowly lowered her hands. "No. I - I have to understand. And she has to stop."

Garrus said, "Do you know why she'd be interested in Commander Shepard's body?"

Gianna said, "Body?" as if she'd never heard it before. "No. No idea. She didn't even know Shepard was dead until I mentioned that I'd met her once. She was always too busy for the news." She turned to Liara. "I'm sorry - I should have said something sooner. I could tell you two were close."

Liara tried to hold the memory at arm's length. "We were not even together yet. I suppose I was very obvious."

Gianna's smile was wide, but gentle. "Not as obvious as she was."

Liara had to turn away for a moment. When she had control again, she said, "That is what I learned from Maxwell. She was not told directly, but I was able to piece it together from things she overheard. Someone had information for Adessa about Shepard's body."

Garrus sat forward. "It's intact, then?"

"I do not know. All I know is there was to be a meeting. Tomorrow morning as well. And there was something about the number ninety-four."

Garrus said, "Docking bay 94, maybe."

Liara nodded. "That sounds right."

Gianna said, "This isn't the same meeting, then. The slaves were being delivered to docking bay 17."

"Will that meeting not be canceled?" Liara asked.

Gianna shook her head. "That was what they kept asking me. What I'd found out." Her face was a grim mask. "They didn't get one goddamn word. So the meeting should be on."

Garrus studied Gianna, but only said, "We can't be in both places. We'll have to split up."

"Garrus, you are injured," Liara said. "You must let your leg heal."

"I don't need it to shoot. Just get me a good position."

"I want to be at bay 94," Gianna said. "If she's buying information, she'll be there herself. She'll let her flunkies handle the slave trading." Her mouth had an ugly shape.

Liara shook her head. "She is a biotic. I will deal with her. You and Garrus will rescue the slaves. We need to find out why she is doing all this, who is backing her."

There was a pause. Garrus said, "Liara, you've pushed your luck pretty far already. You can't take her alone."

"I won't have to," Liara said.

* * *

"There was one thing I didn't want to ask her," Garrus said.

Gianna was making a run for more medi-gel. After being strapped down for three days, she just wanted to get up and move around. Liara wanted to go with her, but she needed time to herself, to think, she said. She had one of Garrus' listening devices attached to the inside of her collar, and promised to call if anything happened, however minor.

Liara nodded. "Why did Adessa not simply meld with her and take the information?" Her mouth was a flat line. "It is not done."

"I - see," he said. "But if Adessa was willing to torture her..."

"The human subconscious resists the melding in any case. That is why it is so tiring for an Asari. If the resistance is strong, there will be...damage."

"So that's why Adessa used the drugs. She still feels something for Parasini." He put a hand on Liara's shoulder. "You did what you had to do. You got the information we needed."

"Thank you, but I would...prefer not to speak of it. And Maxwell died anyway."

"I'm not going to lose sleep over that. And it wasn't your fault. You can't beat yourself up over what you can't control, Liara."

"Kate - Shepard would have done better."

"We're not Shepard. We're just doing the best we can. Are you going to get some rest?"

"Not yet. There is one thing I must do before tomorrow."

* * *

Aria never slept, it seemed. Liara was ushered into her private booth at Afterlife within a few minutes of arriving.

"We found them," Liara said.

Aria just waited.

"Matriarch Adessa is involved in slaving. On your station," Liara said, wondering if that would get any flicker of response. It didn't. "The woman who came after her - Kovelli - is an investigator from her home planet."

"They're both alive?" Aria said.

Liara nodded. "Adessa is injured. But I believe I know where she is going to be tomorrow. I need your help."

"My help?" Aria sounded puzzled. One of the batarian guards snorted. Apparently one did not ask Aria for help.

"Yes. Let Feron go."

For the first time Liara had seen, Aria laughed. "Killing matriarchs isn't in his job description."

"Tell him it is a condition of his release. From what I know of him, he will keep his word."

"Perhaps." Aria leaned back in her seat. "I'll let him go when you bring me this Adessa's head."

"That is not what we agreed." Liara said.

Aria just watched her, the trace of a smirk remaining.

Liara was never sure how or why she did what she did next. She saw herself, in the hospital, hugging her knees and rocking slowly back and forth as she tried to blot out all thoughts, all feelings, because all of them were about her Kate. The next thing she knew, her pistol was in her hand, and the muzzle was against Aria's forehead.

She heard the booth echoing with the noises of rounds being chambered and safeties snapped off. She did not see the dozen weapons that now pointed at her, but she could feel their lines of fire converging on the back of her head.

"I do not have time for this," she said. "I believe the pistol is close enough that your barriers will have no effect."

Aria's smirk had not diminished, but widened. "You're learning, schoolgirl. Now put the gun down and I might let you walk out alive."

"Not until I have your word that Feron and I are free to go."

"How is that going to help you?"

"Because, if your word was no good, no one would ever deal."

Aria nodded. "Very well. My word. Weapons down," she told the guards. Slowly, reluctantly, they complied.

Her whole body trembling with the expectation of a bullet, Liara holstered her pistol.

But Aria only stood and faced her. "I don't know if your friends at Cerberus - I assume that's who they are - can bring Shepard back. But I've been looking over your reports from Ilos again. And I'm starting to think we're going to need her. I wanted to know you were up to it." Her face settled back into its usual stony expression. "But don't make this a habit."

Liara just nodded.

As she turned to go, Aria said, "One other thing."

Liara turned back, then cringed as Aria's entire body erupted in white flame. The biotic sphere expanded around her, like a rapidly swelling balloon, then burst into thousands of tiny, jagged shards that exploded across the booth.

Liara forced open her eyes. She was crouching, her hands thrown up uselessly to deflect the assault. Bit by bit, she straightened up. Around her lay the corpses of Aria's guards, the hideous stinks of their blood and post-mortem excretions already seeping down Liara's throat.

Aria said, "I don't need word getting out that I backed down from an archaeologist. No offense. And they didn't do their jobs. The humans have a useful saying: pour encourager les autres." Her French was not bad.

Liara found her voice. "Now there are no witnesses to our agreement, either."

Aria's eyes narrowed. She seemed displeased for the first time. "Like you said, my word is good. I'll have Feron sent to your rooms. Now get some rest."

Liara fled.

* * *

Matriarch Adessa grimaced as she applied the medi-gel. When her barriers finally gave out, she took three slugs before killing the last of the Cerberus assassins. By a miracle, none hit anything vital - one nicked her left arm, one cracked a rib, and one passed cleanly through the inside of her left thigh. The clinic had a tissue regenerator, which let her repair the worst of the damage, but the wounds still felt as though someone was dripping molten lead into them. She was also dizzy from the loss of blood, and the blood replicator was reduced to junk in the fight.

She couldn't stay there long, anyway. More assassins would surely come. For the same reason, she didn't want to show her face in a public clinic unless she had no choice. For now, she would survive. Now that Cerberus had found her, Omega would soon be crawling with its agents. But she would not leave until her task here was finished. Again she thought about delaying the meeting with Ish tomorrow, but she was reasonably sure Gianna didn't know about it. A delay was more dangerous than it was worth.

She crawled into bed, cursing as the movement stretched the regenerated skin over one of her wounds. As she did every night before sleep, she took out the picture she always carried with her. As always, it felt as if she were seeing her daughter for the first time. Brilliant, sweet-natured, beautiful. And far too young.

Again she found herself wondering about the girl who had rescued Gianna. She reminded her of Missa. Lovely, and brave, even while staring down the barrel of a gun.

Goddess, don't let me see her tomorrow, Adessa thought. I'm sick of killing.


	12. Chapter 12

"Shepard..."

"Get the hell out of here!" Shepard screamed at her.

By now, Liara was ready. She enveloped Shepard in a biotic field that an aircar would have trouble escaping, and pushed her, step by step, to the last escape shuttle.

"How did it feel to mind-rape that woman, T'Soni?" Shepard asked. She laughed. "I don't think I can love an Ardat-Yakshi."

Liara shoved Shepard into the last open seat into the escape shuttle and pulled the safety harness down over her.

"Warning," the computer said. "This shuttle is over capacity. Please relocate one or more personnel to another shuttle."

Liara stepped off the shuttle, back onto the burning ship, and into a knot of jostling, frightened people.

"Liara," Chakwas said. "That's the last shuttle."

"For God's sake, let us in," said Joker.

"We'll die here, Liara," said Garrus. He was lying in a gurney, struggling to sit up. "Please."

From inside the shuttle, Kate shouted, "No!"

Liara slapped the hatch shut and keyed the eject. She was thrown to the deck as the shuttle shot away.

The ship came apart around her. She watched her friends as their skin crumpled and their blood boiled and -

"Liara." Garrus shook her again.

"Yes. I am awake." She hurled off the blanket and made herself sit up on the side of the bed. Her whole body felt slimy with sweat. She was amazed she'd slept at all. "Is Feron - " The door chimed.

Garrus unslung his rifle and gestured Liara and Gianna to get to cover. "Door: open," he said.

It was a Drell, flanked by four batarians. The Drell wore a tunic and trousers of silver, gray, and maroon. Despite having spent the last few days in one of Aria's cells, he was impeccably groomed.

"Feron," Garrus said. "If Aria thinks it takes four goons to keep you from escaping, you're even better than I remember."

"They're for my own safety," Feron said. "All the ladies on this lovely station are obsessed with me. Krogans and batarians in particular. This stint in jail will only make it worse, I fear."

"Here's your delivery." one of the batarians said. He shoved Feron into the room. "We're done with him." He and the others left.

Feron bowed. "Officer Vakarian. So good to see you again - and under even worse circumstances than last time."

"You'll like this," Garrus said. "You get to blow another Asari's head off."

"Garrus," Liara said. He is angry at his injury, he thought, and that this man is taking his place.

"If you mean your companion here," Feron nodded at Liara, "I shall have to refuse."

"Don't say that," Gianna said. Her voice shook. "You're not going to just kill her?"

Garrus said, "I'm sorry. But Adessa seems very determined. Taking her alive will be...problematic."

"As long as we get the data on Shepard's body, and she does not, she is free to walk away." Liara said.

Feron said, "I know of this Adessa - Matriarch Adessa. She will not walk away. And you cannot risk asking. You will need surprise, and even then your odds are poor."

"We've already run into her once," Garrus said. "But you weren't there. You could charm her into giving up."

"You would have to coach me, Vakarian, and there isn't time," Feron said. "You should have requested a platoon of Aria's thugs instead."

Liara said, "I had to put a gun to her head to get you."

Feron blinked both sets of eyelids at her as he realized she meant it. He said, "Then I guess I will do."

* * *

Garrus had put the previous evening to good use by adding the Blue Suns emblem to his armor, which luckily was already the right color. Hopefully, it would confuse the slavers long enough to let him and Gianna win over superior numbers.

For her part, she'd adopted a new disguise - she was now fair-skinned with with straight, jaw-length blond hair, and Liara had given her some of their Cerberus funds to buy a light hardsuit.

"Damn," he said. They were hidden behind some crates near one of the entrances, carefully looking over docking bay 17, though it was still empty. "There are too many entrances to watch them all, or we could take them before they get here."

"I want to see who's buying the slaves," Gianna said. "That'll give the Alliance a chance to find the ones who've been sold already, not that they'll likely do a damn thing."

He glanced at her. She was hardly a wide-eyed innocent when he first met her, but her ordeal had clearly left her bitter. In his time at C-Sec, he found the best treatment for pain and grief was to work through them. He said, "They won't be getting any more."

She patted the flash-bang grenades on her belt. "So, once more. You walk out there and talk to them until you have clear shots at all the bad guys, you give the signal, I throw a couple of flash-bangs, and you kill them."

He nodded. Dr. Chakwas would have a fit at the idea of him walking at all. He had a cane, which they hoped would further reduce suspicion of him. He expected at least two Blue Suns and two men in the buying party, which meant he would have to put shots into the heads of at least four people while they were blinded and stunned. He figured he could take two before the rest figured out what was going on. After that, he'd have to hope his shields and armor held out. He loaned Gianna his Mattock rifle, but she wasn't used to combat, so he ordered her to hold off unless she had a wide-open shot, or he needed a distraction.

The buyers got there first. Garrus cursed again. They came not on foot, but in a Stinger, a small, streamlined ship that knifed through the atmosphere-retention forcefield, then pulled up and settled gracefully to the deck just inside it.

"Is that the Suns?" Gianna whispered.

He shook his head. "I doubt they can afford a Stinger."

"How many crew?"

"Four, at the most. Hopefully they won't all come out. Once the show starts, go ahead and shoot anyone else who tries to come down the ramp. Just keep in cover. That suit isn't going to take much."

She nodded jerkily, feeling sweat gather under her arms. "The show, huh? White-collar crime was never this fun."

He rested his hand briefly on her back. "You'll do fine."

As the Stinger's thrusters died, the Blue Suns entered the docking bay through an entrance on the far side. And Garrus cursed yet again, silently this time. There were four in front, assault rifles ready. Behind them shuffled a dozen humans in double file, their hands and feet connected by a slaver's line. There were men, women, a couple of kids, various races. They had nothing in common that he could see, other than a numbed, broken look that he recognized too well.

At the rear were four more Suns, one of whom had only a holstered pistol, but was watching both the humans and his omni-tool, which no doubt directed the slaver's line. At the touch of a control, he could inflict pain, paralysis, or death on every person attached to the line. Garrus would kill him first. As soon as he figured out how he and Gianna were going to kill eight Blue Suns, along with the slave buyers, and not the slaves.

They're worried about the buyers, he thought. He was wondering if he could bluff them into thinking the sale had been canceled, or that the buyers meant to double-cross them, when the Stinger's ramp lowered.

There were two of them. Each was like an upright insect, with a grayish-brown carapace over snaking red muscles. It was tall, with its head seeming to fuse into its torso, and its torso into its legs. It had two arms that ended in three sharp opposing claws, and below the arms were four smaller, twitching limbs. The head was dominated by a crest that jutted out over four horizontally-spaced yellow eyes. Each carried a rifle similar to those of the Suns.

"Collectors," Garrus whispered. "I've never seen one in the flesh."

"I've never heard of them using alien ships or weaponry," Gianna whispered back.

"They trade technology for specimens for their experiments. They might be worried about it falling into alien hands."

Gianna shivered. "I wonder what's special about these humans. I'll bet they wish they didn't have it now."

One of the humans, a young woman, began shrieking hysterically at the sight of them. Her screams actually rose in pitch, from terror to agony, as the Sun slavemaster jabbed repeatedly at his omni-tool. Her knees gave out. The middle-aged man behind her tried to catch her, only to have one of the guards jab him in the kidney with the muzzle of his rifle. The man howled in pain, twisting as he tried to put his hands over his lower back, but they were locked in front of him.

Gianna took advantage of the noise to set down the Mattock and begin stripping off her armor.

"What the hell are you doing?" Garrus whispered.

She told him.

He shook his head, furious. "That's insane. We don't have time to argue about this."

"Then don't." She pulled the arms off and set them carefully on the floor, then opened the chestplate. "I let Adessa dupe me. This should never have happened, and I'm going to stop it."

"Not by committing suicide."

"If you start shooting, the slaves are dead. If the Collectors take them, they're worse than dead."

"And if you do this, they're still dead, and so are you."

"My job is infiltration, remember? I have a better chance at taking two Collectors than you do at taking all of them." She sat down and slid out of the leggings. Under the armor, she wore a maroon-and-white tech's suit.

"What if there are more on the ship?"

"It's still a better chance than this." She stood up. "Let's go."

He looked at her. There was fear there, and anger, but also a calm determination. He knew that, just as with Feron, he was letting someone else make the hard choice. He hated that he couldn't do it for her. But she was right. What better chance would they have?

So he waited until no one seemed to be looking in their direction, then marched her out. "Hey! I got one more." Gianna looked at the floor and walked with a slight limp. Her hair was unkempt, her suit was torn, and a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. Her hands were cuffed in front of her.

The Suns and the Collectors both turned to look at them, and Garrus braced himself for the hail of bullets. At least it would be quick.

The Sun slavemaster stepped forward. He was a batarian with a slight potbelly and horrific breath. "Harga didn't say anything about any more."

"Harga doesn't know about it," Garrus said. "He put out the bounty, I found one. She's type 1. You want her or not?" When the Suns had tried slaving on the Citadel, they'd simply paid bounties for whatever useful victims their members brought in. He hoped Omega was the same way.

The batarian stared at him. "Type 1, eh? I haven't seen you around here before."

Garrus stepped forward. "Likewise. When I tell Harga I didn't get paid, who should I say kept him from getting his cut?" He hadn't brought his cane, and the stabs of pain from his injured tarsus made it easy to sound irritable.

One of the Collectors made a chittering noise, a ripple passing through the small feelers that seemed to stick out of it in all directions. Gianna shuddered.

One of the Suns looked at the slavemaster. "He says the female appears suitable. He will pay an additional five thousand credits. He, uh, says, to get on with it." The Collector punctuated this by jabbing its rifle toward the ship. Another Sun stepped over to Gianna and quickly checked her handcuffs. He nodded: they were secure.

The slavemaster folded his arms. "They'll go on the ship when I get paid."

That needed no translation. The Collector handed a data pad to the nearest Sun, who passed it to the slavemaster. He shoved it at the man next to him. "Check it, Koth."

Koth tapped at the data pad, his eyes moving as he glanced over the contents. After a minute, he said, "Looks right."

"Fine," the slavemaster said. "Up the ramp," he barked at the humans. It took several more jolts of pain, including one to the woman who had broken down earlier, to get them moving. He nodded at Garrus and Gianna. "Her too. Say goodbye to your girlfriend there."

Garrus forced a raucous laugh. "We did have a little going-away party earlier." Gianna bowed her head and tears welled in her eyes. He shoved her toward one of the Collectors, who gestured her to the end of the line of humans.

He didn't let himself watch Gianna disappear from sight. He wondered if he'd ever see her again, and how he'd live with himself if he didn't. He distracted himself with memorizing the faces of the Blue Suns. He couldn't take them all, even with the Collectors gone, but he promised himself he'd see them again.

The slavemaster looked him over again. "You'll get paid when Harga vouches for you."

"And after you collect a little something extra for this service," Garrus said.

The slavemaster dropped his hand to the butt of his pistol.

Garrus looked at him for a few moments, then looked at the other Suns, and finally at the departing Stinger. Finally he shook his head once, turned, and stalked out of the docking bay as best he could. As soon as he was out of sight he sped up, ignoring the hot knives of pain inside his leg, hoping to reach Liara in time.


	13. Chapter 13

Liara considered going back to Afterlife and looking for Ish, on the guess that he was the one to sell the information to Adessa. But she might be wrong, and she doubted she would find him. By now he likely knew that Liara had survived, and what she would do if she found him.

She and Feron ran into the same problem Garrus and Gianna had: the docking bay had several entrances, so they couldn't simply ambush the informant on his way in, unless they were lucky.

"Can you sense him?" Feron asked.

She shook her head. "I do not have that much range. It will be hard for me just to keep Adessa from sensing us."

"We'll booby-trap the entrances, then."

"No. If she arrives first and triggers one of them, she will warn the informant off."

"She won't be warning anyone after she triggers one of these."

"You want to kill her in cold blood?"

"Yes. You want to pit your biotics against hers? Take pictures for me."

"It does not matter. She would likely sense the trap."

"You can't shield it?"

She shook her head again. "I would have to be right next to it."

He stepped over to a control panel near the main entrance and began tapping at his omni-tool. After a minute, he said, "I've configured the doors so that once someone opens one - or comes through the atmosphere-rentention forcefield - all of them will lock. If the informant comes in first, he's locked in here with us, and she's locked out. If she comes in first, we wait. When he tries to open one of the doors, we run for that door, I open it, we grab him, and leave her locked in here. Either way, she'll eventually hack through it, but it'll take time."

She nodded. "Clever."

They waited. She found herself sneaking glances at him. He seemed calm for someone who might soon be in a losing fight, as he saw it. Garrus had wanted to accompany them as well, but he reluctantly agreed that Gianna needed him more, and Liara could handle Feron if need be.

"I presume Garrus told you how he knows me?" he said at last.

She nodded.

He said no more.

She said, "You do not want to justify yourself? Or verify that Garrus told me the truth?"

He smiled. "I have no need to do either. I know Garrus. He did not approve, but he is a fair man."

She studied him openly now. "You do not seem like someone who could have pulled that trigger."

"Could you have pulled it on Aria last night?"

She didn't want to remember that. "I...think so."

"Why?"

"I have to find Shepard, and she was in the way." It made Liara's stomach knot up, but it was the truth.

He clapped his hands without a sound. "We are not so different, then."

"Yes, we are."

"How?

"Aria...Aria is a killer. She killed her guards, last night." She looked down. "Their blood is on my hands as well."

"And what if you fail?"

In her mind's eye, she saw Kate's nightmare, saw children running and screaming as Reapers swarmed over them. "Then we will likely all die."

"Then, by your reasoning, all our blood would be on your hands. Next to that, a few batarians are a bargain. All of Omega, or even the Citadel, would be a bargain."

She shook her head violently. "No. If we become like that, then what are we fighting for?"

"Survival."

"No. To give up who you are, to become the thing that seeks to destroy you, is not survival."

"It is, for those we save by doing so. For us..."

He was interrupted by a beep from his omni-tool. "A skycar coming in. No, wait." He swore. "Two of them. Can you - "

She was already trying to sense who was in which skycar, but both had one-way windows, and she was afraid to probe harder lest she reveal herself. She shook her head. "We will not be able to lock one of them out."

Feron began checking his Viper sniper rifle again. "We'll have to hit her at the same time. Throw a crate or something on the other side of the room to distract her, and then I'll open up."

The first skycar slid through the atmosphere-retention forcefield, then the second. They settled in a clear part of the docking bay, not far from Liara and Feron. As the doors hissed open, Liara concentrated on building a biotic curtain around herself and Feron that would gently deflect any efforts Adessa might make to sense them. It wouldn't stand up to a focused probe, but...

She was just in time. It was as if a searchlight swept over them in the dead of night. Liara closed her eyes and held her breath. Feron, unaware but seeing her reaction, did the same. The searchlight lingered on them for a moment, and it took all her years of practice to keep her mind totally blank, not to throw up her barriers in expectation of the biotic field that would whirl in at any instant and tear her to pieces...

Then the searchlight moved on. Liara waited, knowing that it might be a trick. Only after she heard Adessa's voice, talking to the informant, did she lower the curtain. The informant said something in reply - it was Ish, all right.

Liara took a moment to gather herself, thinking of Kate, of the two of them sitting on the cliffs of Dover, listening to the gentle rush and hiss of the ocean. She glanced at Feron, saw his nod. He eased away from her, to the far side of the shipping container behind which they hid.

Across the docking bay, the crate was small, probably about a hundred kilos. Liara eased into the air, steadied it, then yanked it toward herself with all her strength. On the way there, it smashed into the side of Matriarch Adessa's head.

But Adessa must have heard the sound of it cleaving the air. Her barriers snapped up at the last instant, and the crate glanced harmlessly off them. Before it hit the deck, she had dropped to one knee, unslung her submachine gun, and emptied a full clip into and around the stack of crates from which it had come.

As she did so, Liara leaned out from cover, spun a biotic field so strong that she trembled with the effort of keeping it contained, and hurled it at Adessa's back. Ish, damn him, shouted a warning and dove for the cover of one of the skycars. To her right, she heard Feron's rifle bark once. Suddenly, Ish's green blood was spattered across the red paint of the skycar, like a horrid Christmas display. Adessa was turning, starting to dive away from the wall of white flame surging toward her. Liara turned it slightly - it was like trying to turn a runaway truck - and it caught Adessa across her legs.

She spun through the air and would have smashed into a container, but she caught herself with a biotic field of her own and dropped lightly to the deck. Feron's rifle was firing so fast it was almost a chatter, as he aligned the crosshairs and pressed the trigger, again and again, shutting out all distractions, not waiting to see the effects of his shots. Adessa's barriers cracked and spat as they turned aside each bullet.

Liara's submachine gun joined the racket as she squeezed off short bursts, trying to keep Adessa off balance as she gathered her strength for another biotic assault. Some of the rounds stitched into the crates behind Adessa, causing showers of sparks from destroyed electronics or spatters from ruptured omni-gel containers.

But it was no use. As Adessa stood unmoved amid the storm of bullets, her body was wreathed in white flames and then -

"Feron!" Liara shouted. They barely made it, diving out from under the huge shipping container as it rolled over with a metallic crash that shook the deck under them and left Liara's head ringing. She rolled to her feet to sprint for the nearest cover - the cab of a crane - when something that felt like a wall slammed into her, knocking her onto her side.

She looked up just in time to see the large crate - it must have been for storing heavy equipment - coming at her again. This time she caught it and managed to slow it enough that it only pushed her along the deck like a broom, but she was no match for Adessa's strength. Behind her was a bulkhead. In moments she would be crushed against it. Frantic, she spun a biotic field underneath herself and shot upward, barely scrambling over the lip of the crate before it smashed into the bulkhead, leaving a dent.

Feron, meanwhile, had gotten behind a pillar and was doggedly emptying another clip at Adessa. Again, her barriers shrugged off the rain of bullets. She flung a ball of biotic lightning at him. It struck the pillar and the coronal discharge hurled Feron into the stack of crates behind him. She crooked a finger. The crate at the top of the stack rocked and fell. He saw it coming, but seemed to be having trouble moving. Liara gave the falling crate a desperate shove, deflecting it just enough that it smashed to the deck inches away from his outstretched right arm.

Adessa's outstretched hand closed into a fist. The docking bay filled with metallic screeches and groans as the entire stack of crates descended on Feron like a crumbling mountain. Liara gripped Feron's body and heaved, sending him sliding across the deck toward her, just ahead of the avalanche. But now he had lost his rifle, and was out in the open, his shields flickering. Adessa aimed her submachine gun at him, just as Liara aimed hers at Adessa. Both of them clicked, empty.

Liara ran straight at Adessa, thanking the Goddess for the drills Shepard had forced her squad to run, again and again, until they got it perfect - such as pulling fresh clips from their belts and feeding it into their guns, by feel alone, as they closed with an enemy. Adessa was still sliding her clip in when Liara's submachine gun came up and spat flame. Adessa's barriers still stopped the fire, but they were rippling with the impacts now, weakening.

Before Adessa could fire back at her, Liara swept up a biotic wind behind herself, sending her rushing forward, her muscles tensing to smash the butt of her gun into Adessa's skull. But Adessa leapt away on biotic wings of her own, arcing high over the towers of stacked containers and coming lightly to rest atop the highest of them.

As Liara spun and slapped in yet another clip and tried to draw a bead on her again, a hailstorm of crates rushed at her. She ducked one and rolled away from another, but they kept coming. Adessa waved her arms as she unfurled a hurricane. Soon there were too many crates for Liara to avoid, and she had to shove each one aside as it came at her, but her strength was waning.

Then one struck her from behind and knocked her to her knees. She rolled aside, barely dodging another one that would have broken her skull. It hit her shoulder instead, and she shrieked as red lances of pain shot down her arm. Her gun clattered to the deck. She started to crawl, supported only by one arm, toward a nearby shipping container - anything that might offer shelter, however slight - but another crate toppled onto her left leg, pinning it.

Liara bared her teeth as she jerked at her leg, ignoring the waves of agony that swept through her with each effort. She would not fail. The leg refused to budge. She swore as she shoved at the heavy crate, again and again, with everything she had, but she only succeeded in rocking it, her leg screaming as the weight came back down on it each time.

Finally she twisted and looked up to see Adessa leap down and land lightly on the deck, gliding on a cushion of her seemingly bottomless biotic power. She stepped forward. Liara relaxed, tried to gather enough for one last try, but there was nothing. Her gun lay just outside her frantic reach. Adessa kicked it away.

Liara expected to see a smirk of triumph on Adessa's face, and the white fire in her hands that would explode outward and obliterate everything. But Adessa's hands hung empty by her sides, and the look on her face was of sadness.

"Why?" she asked.

"I want my Kate back," Liara said.

Adessa just looked at her, and suddenly the docking bay was filled with a roar and a rush of displaced air. Adessa turned her head to look and her mouth opened and then something huge and black hurtled into her, sending her flying through the air and into a bulkhead like a toy kicked by an angry child.

The thing that had struck her - Liara realized it was a skycar - caromed off several shipping containers, nearly rocking them over, before meeting the deck with an awful screech and a solid wall of sparks that ended when it crunched into another bulkhead, popping the doors and pouring forth a billowing black tower of smoke.

Another pair of feet approached her - Feron, limping a bit, but otherwise unhurt. He crouched and slid his hands under the crate that pinned Liara's leg. Quivering with effort, he managed to lift it enough for Liara to wriggle free. He pulled his hands away and the crate thudded to the deck.

He took her good arm in both hands and gently pulled her to her feet. She leaned on him as she tested the leg. It was shaky, and would no doubt have hideous bruises, but it seemed to work. A rush of gratitude swept her. She squeezed Feron's shoulder. "Thank the Goddess you're all right," she said.

He smiled. "The Goddess is a terrible driver, it seems." Leaning on each other, they limped over to the crashed skycar, where a large figure was just crawling out.

"Garrus!" Liara said.

He groaned and spat a small stream of blue blood onto the deck. "Sorry I'm late."

She knelt beside him. "Feron, find some medi-gel. Hurry!"

He began rummaging through the piles of debris left by the battle. "There must be some somewhere in this mess."

She eased Garrus onto his back, ignoring the protests of her injured arm, taking care to support his head. His armor was scored and cracked, whether from the crash or the rescue of the slaves, she didn't know. Feron brought her several tubes of medi-gel and a medi-scanner, which she swept it over him. He wasn't going anywhere - his remaining tarsometatarsus was now cracked as well, as well as his sternum and several ribs, but he was in no immediate danger. She set to work removing pieces of his armor and slathering medi-gel over his worst injuries.

"Gianna," Garrus said, "We have to go after Gianna."

"It is all right," Liara said.

"A timely entrance, Vakarian," Feron said. "Dramatic, too."

Garrus said, "You locked all the damn doors. So I rented a skycar from a place right next door." He coughed. "Think I'll get my deposit back?"

Liara had forgotten about the doors. She thanked the Goddess they hadn't locked the atmosphere-retention forcefield as well. She rose. "Feron, stay with him. I will check on Adessa and Ish."

But Adessa was gone. There was a smear of violet blood against the bulkhead where she had come to rest, and a trail of drops and puddles leading to the nearest door. She must have been able to hack it. Liara shook her head. The woman had barriers like a fortress, to let her survive that impact, let alone walk away from it. Then she saw a slip of paper lying near the spot where the skycar had struck Adessa.

She picked it up. It was a picture of another Asari, younger, a maiden. Her markings were like stripes, like Adessa's, but softer, rounder. More like a kitten than a tiger. Liara looked at the picture, wondering what she hoped to discover, then slipped it into a pocket.

Ish was alive. Feron had shot him in the leg, to keep him from interfering further. He hadn't killed him because the information might be in his head. It wasn't, though. It was in a data pad that Ish held out toward her like an offering. She ignored his begging. She was simply too tired to listen to it. She had a sudden, overpowering urge to snatch up her submachine gun and empty it into his head. She forced it down, sickened. She went back to Feron, took a tube of medi-gel, handed it to Ish without a word, and walked away from his effusive and pitiful thanks.

They fashioned a stretcher from some fabric and metal tubing they found in the broken crates, got Garrus into it, and carried him to Adessa's abandoned skycar. "We must get him to a clinic," Liara said. "One where he will be safe."

Feron said, "I think I know one."


	14. Chapter 14

The Stinger darted away from Omega with Gianna Parasini aboard.

As it turned out, there was another Collector aboard, for a total of three. Two of them sat in a cockpit that abutted the main compartment, while the third kept watch on the prisoners, about twenty feet aft. That wasn't ideal. So Gianna waited.

Without looking at her handcuffs, she finished keying in their release code. As programmed, they eased open without a chime or even a click.

She carefully studied the interior of the ship, trying to look as frightened, as totally focused on her own fate, as the other humans. It wasn't hard. But she saw nothing unusual. As Garrus had suggested, the Collectors must hide their technology when dealing with other species on their home turf.

One of the humans asked, "What are you going to do with us?" It was the young woman who had screamed earlier. Her voice was calm now, but her face was bloodless and her blue eyes so wide Gianna could see the whites all around them.

In answer, the Collector who was guarding them stepped forward and clubbed her with the butt of its submachine gun. She groaned and slumped to the deck, blood running freely from her scalp. The other humans cried out in horror and anger, but the Collector pointed the rifle at them and the noises stopped as if by a switch, except for a few sobs. Gianna, who had brought her hands up to her face, lowered them again, sniffling quietly.

One of the Collectors piloting the ship turned and chittered briefly at the guard. The guard chittered back. As it did, Gianna caught the eye of the man next to her. She guessed he was former Alliance Navy; he had close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, an erect bearing, and a look of calm watchfulness. She silently mouthed, "Be ready". She opened her cupped hands slightly. He glanced down at them for an instant, then at her, then looked forward again without visible surprise or even a nod. She thanked God she'd read him correctly. She felt quite hopeful. Terrific, even.

Then she glanced at the forward viewport and saw something that froze her blood. It was a mass relay - a common enough sight - but the eye, rather than glowing the familiar blue, was burning red. In fact, Gianna's vision was taking on a red tint, but she knew it wasn't enough to create a hallucination like that. It was the Omega-4 relay, from which no ship was ever known to return. Except Collector ships. And she knew no Collector ship would ever return with humans aboard. For her - and all the others - this would be a one-way trip.

Once, as a teenager, Gianna tried red sand. Some of the rich brats she grew up with - who, of course, had piles of it, dared her. They snickered to each other as they watched her experience the brief burst of euphoria, the frightening outburst of uncontrolled telekinesis, and especially the agonizing withdrawal. She never touched the stuff again until she moved away, afraid of what she might find herself doing for just one more line...

Later, she realized that it might be useful. So she took small doses, spacing them out to avoid becoming habituated, and slowly trained herself to control the ability she gained while using it. She would never be nearly as powerful or precise as a true biotic, but it might just be enough to make a difference. She was about to bet her life on it.

Carefully, she took an invisible grip on the muzzle of the Collector guard's blood-dripping submachine gun. She nudged it, testing her grip. When she was sure, she pushed harder. The Collector warbled something and looked down at the gun, trying to see what was tugging at it. She yanked upward on the muzzle as hard as she could, which was enough to point it for an instant at the Collector's face. Grabbing something as small as the trigger felt like threading a moving needle, but all her practice paid off. She pressed it down, hard.

Purple blood exploded from the Collector's head onto the bulkhead behind it, the overhead, and the prisoners. A few of them were smart enough to throw themselves to the deck. The Navy man next to Gianna threw himself at several who weren't, taking them down with him. The screams, plus the thunder of the submachine gun in the enclosed space, was enough to get both of the Collector pilots to turn around, their hands already reaching for the sidearms at their waists.

Gianna hurled the flashbang - the one she had brought aboard in her mouth, then spat into her hands at the same time she inhaled the packet of red sand - at the pilots. Then she rushed at the dead Collector, to her right, with her left hand covering her left ear and eye. Unfortunately, though the Collector was slowly sliding down the bulkhead to the deck, leaving a large smear of purple blood, the submachine gun was still firing. She twisted - almost there - but a round nicked her upraised left arm an instant before the flashbang went off. Half blinded, she ran right into the bulkhead.

Her face was wet, but she couldn't tell if it was her blood or the Collector's. With her right hand, she pried the submachine gun, which had finally stopped firing, out of its dead grip. She turned to the pilots and tried to aim, but the whole compartment was spinning. She pressed the trigger, trying to spray bullets all around them in the hope of hitting something. In her rage and panic she forgot to fire only short bursts, and the gun pulled up and to the left.

She finally let go of the trigger to aim again, and she heard someone shouting. He seemed to be shouting at her. She glanced over and saw it was the Navy man. He was standing amid the pile of sprawled humans and had his hands out, the cuffs that bound him to the slaver's line still on them. Taking a second to focus through her dizziness, Gianna threw the gun to him. He had to lunge to catch it, and fell to his knees.

One of the Collectors had gotten its pistol out of its holster and was firing back at Gianna, not realizing that she no longer had the gun, but it couldn't quite aim yet. Bullets whanged and sparked off the bulkhead behind her. Then the Collector's whole body jerked and purple blood sprayed onto the viewscreen behind it. The Navy man had brought the gun up to his cheek and fired a burst right into the Collector's face. He calmly took aim again, and Gianna waited to see the other Collector fall as well. But the submachine gun only clicked.

Cursing, Gianna knelt by the Collector guard's body, the fingers of her right hand clumsy with panic as she searched it for another clip. She heard a pistol shot, then another, but she ignored them. Then she heard the sound of something heavy striking the deck with a muffled thud, and she glanced up.

The last Collector stood by its chair, a smoking pistol in its hand. The Navy man was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, bleeding heavily from his right arm but still clutching the useless submachine gun. Gianna tried to yank the pistol away from the Collector, but the effects of the red sand had evaporated - all except the withdrawal. She stood staring at it, not quite able to believe that she had come so close, only to fail.

The Collector took a step toward her. She just watched, in the frozen fascination of knowing she was about to die. It took another. The pistol was wavering. Maybe it had been wounded after all? But there was no blood. It took another, and was clearly having trouble now. Its gun hand convulsed, and Gianna flinched and waited for the wet impact of the bullet and the shrieking bloom of fresh pain, but none came.

The Collector collapsed to one knee. It looked up at her and suddenly emitted a high-pitched squeal that made her try to wrap her right arm around her head to shut it out. It was like no sound she'd ever heard from any living thing. At last it faded. The Collector fell forward onto the deck and rolled over onto its back, all its feelers in a blur of twitching. A trickle, then a stream, of purple froth seemed to be issuing from the lower part of the Collector's face - its mouth? - and running into a quickly growing pool on the floor.

At last the bubbling stream slowed, as did the twitching, and the creature - she could no longer even think of it as a Collector; it was truly some horrid, nameless alien thing now - relaxed. At least its death was recognizable.

Like a toddler learning to walk, Gianna stepped away from the bulkhead against which she had been cowering. The cries of the terrified humans began to penetrate her fog of red sand withdrawal and adrenaline and fear. Medi-gel, she thought. If they were taking humans, maybe they have medi-gel. She began wandering around the small ship, randomly at first. Then the pain of her wounded arm began to reach her, bringing her back down to reality more quickly.

She found a secured crate that did indeed have a small tube of medi-gel - not nearly enough, she thought - and a small cutting tool that was enough to cut the slaver's line. She went back to the humans, who were standing in a huddle, to see if any of them needed the medi-gel more than the wounded Navy man. She was afraid they would fight over it, but she soon saw they were past that. They stared at her, wide-eyed and silent now. Tears, which she couldn't explain, brimmed in her eyes and spilled over and ran down her face, though she didn't sob once.

One of the humans - a young man - was dead. He had a small, clean bullet wound in his forehead - he must not have been quick enough to get down when the dying Collector guard was firing its submachine gun. I did this to him, Gianna thought, looking at his still, surprised face. But she couldn't yet seem to feel anything about it, though her tears still ran.

A middle-aged woman was groaning and pressing a blood-soaked piece of torn clothing against a grazing wound on the outside of her left calf. Gianna thought she could give the woman some medi-gel and have enough left for the Navy man, but the woman refused it. She seemed afraid to stop applying pressure to the wound. Gianna gave up arguing with her.

The Navy man refused it as well. He settled for a tourniquet he made from one of his sleeves. "After this is over," he said, "I'll buy you a Skyllian Blitz, and tell you about the thing it's named after. That's where I became an expert on getting shot. You're new to this. Give me your arm." Gianna did, and let him rub some of the precious medi-gel into her wound. As he did, he probed at it gently; she felt some dull aches, but the medi-gel smothered most of the pain. He said, "Looks like the bullet went on through."

The medi-gel also seemed to help with the red sand withdrawal. She was feeling sleepy, and wondering why her vision was again taking on a red tint, when she glanced up.

"Shit!" She jumped to her feet, knocking the Navy man's hands away, and ran to the cockpit. The glaring red eye of the Omega-4 relay nearly filled the viewscreen. The Collector pilots must have laid in a course for it before they died. Her hands flew over the holographic controls, as if she could figure out how to work them by feel. The first tendrils of red lightning were reaching for the ship, eager to grab it and hurl them all to their deaths.

The ship began shuddering. For an awful instant, Gianna thought the relay had them. Then she saw that it had stopped growing larger. The cockpit came alive with flashing lights and alarms. The Navy man dropped into the seat next to her and calmly looked over the controls. "Looks like a tractor beam's got us," he said. "Another small ship, probably a yacht."

"Liara," Gianna said. It had to be her, and Garrus.

"Whoever they are, they're the only thing keeping us out of that relay." He keyed in some commands. "This damn civilian - there!" The ship stopped shaking. On the viewscreen, the relay slowly began to shrink as the ship backed away, the lightning crackling angrily around it.

"Bye bye," the Navy man said to it. "I always hated going through these things anyway. And they say this one sends you right to hell. Sure looks like it, doesn't it?"

She nodded. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Reed. Captain, Alliance Navy, ret - " His board beeped and a light began flashing. "Got an incoming transmission," he said. "From that ship that's tractoring us. Audio only. Shall I put it through?"

She nodded. He keyed something and the board beeped again. "Liara?" she said.

There was a pause. "Gianna!" Liara's voice said. "Thank the Goddess. Are you all right?"

"Yes," Gianna said. "Are you? Is Garrus? Did you find Adessa? Is she..."

"We've been better, but we're all right. Adessa got away."

Gianna felt ashamed at her relief at that last part. There was something else bothering her, something about Liara, but she couldn't quite say what.

"Stay put and we'll dock with you," Liara said. "See you in a minute."

Gianna stood. "I'll unlock the hatch," she said, but she was frowning.

Reed looked up at her. "Miss - Gianna. Everything all right?"

She nodded. "Probably just nerves. This isn't my usual line of work."

The ship rocked again, gently this time, and the holographic hatch control changed from red to yellow to show the seals were mated. Gianna touched the control and it changed to green. As the hatch began to cycle open, she suddenly said, "contractions". Liara didn't use contractions.


	15. Chapter 15

"I need a ship," Liara said.

Aria couldn't help but laugh. She sat, as always, in her private booth at Afterlife, flanked by four batarian guards who kept their Mattock heavy rifles trained on Liara, safeties off. Liara was allowed no closer than two meters this time; she had to raise her voice to be heard above the pulsing music.

"You amuse me," Aria said, her face hard again. "But this is becoming more trouble than it's worth."

"Adessa is worse trouble." Liara told Aria of the fight. "Do you want someone that powerful on Omega?"

"But, as you say, she is gone," Aria said. "And, even if there were Collectors here, why do you think she'd be following them?"

"The data she was buying from Ish. It is an intercepted distress call from a bounty hunter. They reported they had found something, but then they were attacked by a ship of unknown design. I think it was the Collectors. If Adessa can take the Collector ship that just left here, it might have something that will lead her to the other Collectors - and the bounty hunter." And my Kate.

"A long shot," Aria said. "And if you get there first, she'll just come back here. Then I'll have to deal with her myself - since you seem unable to."

Liara saw Garrus, unable even to stand but still protesting that he wanted to come with them, as Feron took him to the clinic. She was lit from within by a faint white shimmer that made the hot, fetid air of the club crackle and swirl slowly around her. Aria smiled; the guards tensed, their fingers on their triggers.

Liara's omni-tool chimed with an incoming call. In her anger, she was about to order it saved for later, but then she saw it was on a special channel she had added before leaving Earth.

Aria glanced at her own omni-tool. "Well, well. A Cerberus channel," she said. "Do pick it up. I've been wanting to talk to them." The guards grinned and looked sidelong at each other. Liara sensed her odds of leaving Afterlife alive were dropping fast.

A flickering image of Miranda Lawson, from the waist up, sprang from Liara's arm.

"Hello, Cheerleader," Aria said. "It's been too long."

"Not long enough," Miranda said.

"I'd like you to take your little scavenger hunt somewhere else. I'm tired of cleaning up your people's bodies."

"What are you - "

"Yes, I know. Must be another rogue cell. Tell me, what do you call the ones that haven't gone rogue yet?"

Miranda was silent.

Aria sighed. "T'Soni says she's after someone with ties to the Collectors. Is she?"

Miranda glanced at Liara, then turned back to Aria. "That's a working theory," she said.

"Cut the crap, Cheerleader."

Miranda folded her arms. "Fine. If I show you the connection, will you give her whatever I presume she's asking for?"

Aria nodded.

Miranda keyed her omni-tool. Her image was replaced by a dense column of numbers that scrolled past too fast to read. Aria looked at her own omni-tool. "That's the Shadow Broker's signature. Matches what we've bought from him before, anyway. Interesting."

The signature was replaced by a grainy image. It was a flat expanse of permacrete, lit by the harsh glare of floodlights, with a small ship parked between stacks of containers. It was similar to the docking bay Liara had just come from, though it didn't look like Omega. The ship's ramp was lowered, and standing at the bottom were -

Liara thought, These are the things that have Gianna right now? That are looking for Kate? Goddess...

There was another group near the Collectors. At first she just saw they were all Asari. But some of them wore ordinary clothing, and the others wore armor of a uniform design. And the armored Asari had guns trained on the others.

Liara felt sick. They were Eclipse Sisters. And they were selling slaves - other Asari - to the Collectors. When Liara was younger, the other girls used to frighten her with stories about the Sisters. You had to murder someone in cold blood just to become one. And if you found yourself on Ilium, and you ran out of credits, or even talked to the wrong person or walked into the wrong place - the Sisters would get you. If you were lucky, they'd just rob and kill you. If not...

The image began to move. One of the Sisters gestured with her rifle and said something that was heard only as a squeal. The captives began to shuffle toward the ramp. One of them stopped and looked over her shoulder, toward Liara and Aria, and Liara felt her throat tighten. At that instant the image froze and suddenly zoomed in on the Asari's face. It was too blurred to make out, but then, line by line, it began to clear. It was about half finished when Liara said, "It's her."

She reached into a pocket and took out the picture Adessa had dropped. The face in the holo-image was so terrified as to be unrecognizable, but the markings were the same.

As if to agree, the image changed to a missing person report filed with Ilium Law Enforcement. There was a photo of the girl - the same one Liara held. The report identified her as Missa T'Anassi, only daughter of Adessa. There was a brief statement, written by one Detective Anaya, that the girl had been taken by Eclipse mercenaries and was likely deceased.

Aria sat back. "This could all be faked."

Miranda appeared again. "We'd hardly go to such trouble on your behalf."

Aria considered. "I suppose not." She keyed something on her omni-tool and the image of Miranda abruptly winked out; she must have blocked the call. "That's much better."

She turned to Liara. "So Adessa is trading slaves to the Collectors to get her daughter back. Shepard's body must be the final payment, though Goddess knows what they want with it. But if they already have it, she'll have to jump them and try to find the kid herself. Dumb. Anyway, I don't need the Collectors using Omega as a trading post. They don't cut me in, and they scare off the other business."

Liara couldn't help asking, "If it was your daughter, what would you do?"

"If she was dumb enough to get caught by Eclipse, I'd hope for better luck with the next one." Aria keyed her omni-tool. "The ship that left docking bay 17 was headed for the Omega-4 relay. Go to docking bay 2. I'll have something prepped for you. And tell Feron if he runs off in it, the life support systems will turn out to have a few glitches."

* * *

Aria cut the call. Miranda used a short, scalding name for a certain part of the Asari body.

From where he sat, just out of view of her omni-tool camera, the boss said, "At least we know Adessa isn't working for the Broker."

"Unless that information is fake. To throw us off."

"I doubt it. Betrayal and murder are one thing, but if the Broker started selling false data he'd be out of business in a week." He interlaced his fingers. "He just doesn't want Adessa getting the body. He always was greedy - another weakness. He wants the money or whatever the Collectors have offered him."

"Safety from the Reapers, maybe."

He allowed himself a smile. "Cowardly, too."

* * *

Feron met Liara in docking bay 2.

"Not bad," he said.

The ship waiting for them was a Sarifa-class corvette, made by Nexus Shipwrights of Thessia, which had also designed and built the Destiny Ascension. Liara could see that it was heavily modified, mostly with added guns. The name on the side, in flowing Asari script, read Aryera.

"'Without looking back,'" Liara said.

"Suits me," Feron said.

On the bridge, he slid into the pilot's seat, then turned to Liara. "Well, Captain, let me have the coordinates for that distress call and we'll get this pleasure cruise underway."

Liara sank into the captain's chair. The decision had been eating at her. Gianna is dead, a voice inside her said. The Collectors have killed her. If not, Adessa will. If the Collectors do not already have Kate, they soon will. And someone else might have intercepted that distress call. Adessa might still get it. There is no time to lose.

"We don't know Gianna is dead," she said, as much to herself as to him.

"So what?" She blinked at him. He said, "If Cerberus really can bring Shepard back, she's worth more dead than Parasini is alive. From what Vakarian told us, Parasini knew she was on her own. She thought she had some kind of debt to pay, and she paid it. Noble. And foolish."

"What if it was you on that ship?"

"I wouldn't be on that ship. If I were, I'd tell you to write me off and get the job done."

Just as you did on the Citadel, Liara thought. Just like Aria. And...like Kate. Her hands tightened on the armrests. No. Kate would find a way to save both of them. And so will I.

"Plot a course for the Omega-4 relay," she said. He looked as if he were about to say something else, but then he nodded once and turned to his controls. As he worked, she keyed her omni-tool. It is the only way, she told herself. Better Cerberus than the Collectors.

The image of Miranda sprang up again. "I need your help," Liara told her. She was getting tired of saying that.

Miranda glanced around the bridge of the Aryera. "Go ahead."

"I have a lead on Shepard's body, but I cannot follow it right now."

"What? I thought that was why you were after Adessa. Explain," Miranda said. Liara did. Miranda clasped her hands behind her back. "Doctor, leave Parasini and focus on Shepard. That's an order."

Liara said, "I am sorry, but I do not take orders from you."

"We had an agreement."

"And I will keep it. But not at the cost of innocent lives."

Miranda's lips thinned. "Very well. Tell us where Parasini is and we'll send someone after her. You focus on Shepard."

Liara shook her head. "You have a reason to look for Shepard. You have no reason to look for Gianna."

Miranda leaned forward. "You don't trust us?"

Liara said, "No." Miranda's eyes narrowed. Liara said, "You will not go after Gianna because Adessa is going after her, and you have already tried to kill her and failed. I believe she is a rogue Cerberus operative, about whom you failed to warn me."

"We didn't know she was involved in this."

Liara folded her arms. "You also intercepted this distress call, and you sent someone to investigate it - ahead of me, in violation of our - agreement." Her mouth twisted on the last word. "But something went wrong. That is the only reason you could want me to go. When did you plan to tell me about that?"

Miranda sighed. "Yes, we sent a team, and they just stopped reporting in. We think it's a trap, but it's the only lead we have. Whether it's the Collectors or the Shadow Broker, we didn't want you to scare them off by being too cautious."

"I am an archaeologist. My talent is for assembling complete pictures from incomplete data. Trust me to do so."

Miranda nodded slowly. "All right. There was one other thing, related to your last report. We heard back from a source inside the Council's research team on Ilos. A few months ago, someone broke into that bunker you and Shepard found. Nothing was missing. It took them a while to figure out what the intruder was after. Finally they found one of the Prothean cryogenic pods had been opened."

"But the Protheans were all dead," Liara said. "The only thing left would be...genetic material. And Adessa is an expert at genetic manipulation. But what would she want with Prothean DNA?"

Miranda smiled thinly. "That's as far as we've gotten too. Put your puzzle-solving talents to work on it." Her image shrank back into Liara's arm.

Liara turned to Feron. "How long to the Omega-4 relay?"

"About two hours."

Only two hours. Liara closed her eyes. Goddess, do not let it be two hours too many. Whether she meant for Gianna or for Kate, she decided not to think about.


	16. Chapter 16

Adessa limped through the open hatch, her submachine gun leveled at Gianna, who backed slowly away.

"I might have known," Adessa said. "Are you all right?"

Gianna's mouth twisted. "Put that gun down and I'll tell you."

As they spoke, Reed, who had not turned from the controls, keyed open a comm channel and disabled the proximity warnings.

"Believe it or not, I'm sorry. I never meant for you to be hurt," Adessa said. "Nor can I fault you for finding out what I was doing, or trying to stop me. It is who you are."

"Too bad I didn't know who you are," Gianna said. Her glance took in the huddled group of humans, the bodies on the floor, the pools of red and purple blood that were beginning to run together.

Adessa looked at the blood from the Collector Gianna had shot. It was still dripping from the overhead and trickling down the bulkhead. Then she looked at the viewscreen behind Reed, which was also sprayed with blood from the one he had shot. "Damn," she said. "Did you kill them all?"

"What?"

Adessa didn't answer, but kept all of them in sight and her gun on Gianna as she edged over to the third Collector. She knelt, her eyes flicking between it and them as she brought out a small medi-scanner with her left hand and ran it over the body. Her shoulders slumped and a smile spread slowly across her face.

* * *

"I'm picking up an open comm channel," Feron said. "Looks like it's coming from near the relay."

"On speakers. Receive only," Liara said.

" - never in real danger," Adessa's voice said.

"Tell that to this dead kid." Liara's heart leapt. It was Gianna.

"There they are," Feron said. A small section of the viewscreen jumped toward them, showing the Stinger Garrus had described, with another, smaller ship nestled alongside it.

"She is blocking the hatch," Liara said.

Feron grinned. "Good thing you got us a pirate ship."

" - came after them." Adessa's voice said. "I would never let the Collectors get away with them, Gianna."

"I've heard enough of your lies," Gianna said. There was a shout, then a muffled thud and a cry of pain.

"Damn it!" Liara said. "Hurry!"

"Strap in," Feron said, checking his sensor readouts. "Looks like they're all forward. We'll hit them aft."

* * *

As part of Aria T'Loak's fleet, one of the Aryera's most important upgrades was some specialized docking gear. Liara held her breath as Feron glided over the Stinger's dorsal hull with less than a meter between the two ships. Then he fired the forward braking thrusters hard enough to overload the motion dampers and shove them both hard into their restraints.

On the Aryera's ventral hull, a dozen small hatches cycled open. From each, a flexible metal appendage shot out, seeking purchase on the Stinger's dorsal hull. Two of the twelve failed - one struck a sensor array and one an exhaust vent. The other ten found a flat surface and magnetically attached to it, tying the two ships together.

Then a larger hatch, a meter wide, opened. A cylinder emerged, its underside dotted with recessed nozzles, and descended until it met the Stinger's hull. The underside of the cylinder flared blinding white as the plasma jets fired. Around it, the Stinger's hull glowed red, then faded again in the near absolute zero of space as the jets sputtered and stopped. A gasket, attached to the Aryera by a heavy sleeve, slid down over the cylinder and attached itself to the Stinger, making an airtight seal. Within the sleeve, the cylinder slid upward, back into the Aryera's hull, then to one side.

Aboard the Stinger, jagged, blackened chunks of metal thudded to the deck. A length of heavy cable dropped through the still-glowing opening in the overhead. Liara slid down it, followed by Feron. Her submachine gun was ready, as was his Viper, but the compartment was empty.

There was little use for stealth. Adessa knew they were here. Liara took one side of the hatch to the forward compartment, Feron the other. Using hand signals, she counted down from three and slapped the hatch open. They went through together, guns ready, and quickly stepped apart.

The stink of spilled blood, human and alien, made Liara gag. She seemed to be wading ever deeper into an ocean of it.

At the forward end of the compartment, framed by the blazing red eye of the Omega-4 relay, Adessa stood with the muzzle of her gun against Gianna Parasini's temple. Liara and Feron stepped forward slowly, guns raised.

"Hold your fire, Feron," Liara said at once.

"You remember. I'm touched," he said.

"T'Soni." Adessa sounded weary. "Why in Goddess' name are you fighting so hard over a corpse?"

"Why are you?" Liara said. "You must know the Collectors will not give you your daughter back."

To her surprise, Adessa let out a single, bitter laugh. "No, I imagine not."

"Then what would she think of you doing all this?"

Adessa's mouth thinned. "She'd hate it. But I don't much care. She's dead. And I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."

"I do not understand."

"You don't have to." Adessa gestured with the gun at Gianna's head. "Drop the guns. Give me this ship and walk away - with Gianna."

Gianna's dark eyes locked on Liara's. "Shoot, Liara."

Liara said, "I cannot let you have this ship."

Adessa said, "All I want are the navigation data."

Liara glanced at the viewscreen. "They were going to go through the Omega-4 relay."

Adessa nodded. "They must have a way to go through safely. If I can have that...it might be enough."

Gianna said, slowly and distinctly, "Liara. Pull the trigger. Kill her before she hurts anyone else."

She is right, that voice inside Liara said. Adessa has almost killed you twice. This might be your only chance.

"Just give the word," Feron whispered.

"Shut up!" Liara said to all three of them, shaking her head violently.

At first she thought she had made herself dizzy, but then the deck shot out sideways from under her and she landed hard on her right hip. She heard someone say, "Oh, shit," - she thought it was the human male who was, inexplicably, sitting in the pilot's seat.

Adessa staggered, and she and Gianna went down together in a tangled heap. Adessa hung on to her submachine gun, but Gianna rolled on top of her and pinned her gun arm with her knee.

"Reed!" she shouted as she tried to pry the gun from Adessa's hand.

The man - Reed - was working the controls, his movements calm but rapid. "Drive core is overloading," he said. Indeed, Liara could feel a steadily rising hum that seemed to permeate the whole ship. "I can't shut it down - looks like some kind of built-in self-destruct." As if to confirm his words, the controls went dead.

"Aft compartment," Liara said to the prisoners, her arm shooting out to catch herself against a pylon as the dying ship pitched again. "Up the cable. Feron, Reed, go with them!"

Adessa drove a knee into Gianna's back, nearly knocking her off, then planted a foot on the deck and rolled both of them over. She came up off one knee and ran for the hatch to her own ship, barely keeping her footing as the Stinger lurched under her. Liara brought her submachine gun up, but the ship was now convulsing so badly she was afraid of hitting Gianna with a ricochet if she pressed the trigger. Adessa ducked through the hatch and was gone.

Liara stumbled forward and pulled Gianna to her feet.

"Safety," Gianna said.

"What?"

"Her gun. The safety was on. She was never going to shoot me." Gianna shook her head.

"Come on." Liara had to shout now. It was all she could do to run toward the aft compartment, where the hum had risen to a scream. Gianna showed her teeth in a grimace of pain as she pulled her hands away from her ears to climb the cable. Liara was glad she didn't have any.

She surged through the hatch and flopped onto the deck of the Aryera. The instant the hatch cycled closed, Feron cut the grapples. The Aryera, which was shuddering in tandem with the Stinger's death throes, suddenly went blessedly still as the docking gear released its grip.

Feron's hands flew over the controls. On the viewscreen, the Stinger shrank. Adessa's ship broke its docking seal with the Stinger and began pulling away as well, but it wasn't as fast as the Aryera.

She is not going to make it, Liara thought. "Put a tractor on her," she heard herself say.

Feron glanced over his shoulder. "Are you - "

"Do it!" Her fists clenched.

He blinked, then turned back to his console. "We'll have to divert power from the thrusters."

"It is all right. Her ship will take the brunt of the explosion."

As she said, Adessa's ship turned toward them, aligning its thrust with the pull of their tractor to move faster.

"Be ready to reverse the tractor," Liara said.

Feron said, "No kid - "

The Stinger became a surging white sphere of fire. It caught Adessa's ship first and flung it toward the Aryera like a piece of driftwood caught in a tidal wave. The Aryera's reversed tractor nudged it aside and it missed them by meters. Then the wave struck the Aryera. The stars on the viewscreen spun and the bridge erupted with lights and alarms. Feron cursed as he struggled to right the ship.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. It was Gianna. "Why?" she asked.

"I..." Liara hadn't thought about it yet. "I was not going to watch another person die that way," she said. She turned to Feron. "Open a channel."

Adessa sounded dazed, but not injured. "T'Soni...I...I'm afraid I can't promise to return the favor if we meet again."

Feron shook his head.

Liara said, "Will your life support last until help arrives?"

There was a pause. "Yes."

Feron muted the channel and said, "What help? The nearest station is Omega, and Aria wants her dead. So does Cerberus."

"Are you suggesting we take her back to Omega with us?" Liara said.

"Of course not. I'm suggesting we destroy her ship and get it over with."

"Yes, I should have guessed," Liara said. "Gianna?"

"This ship has a brig," Gianna said. "With a biotic damping field."

Liara nodded. "For bringing prize captives back to Aria." She un-muted the channel. "Stand by to dock," she told Adessa. "Meet us at the hatch, unarmed."

Another pause. "All right." Her voice was shaky. "Thank you."

Feron sighed as he keyed the docking maneuvers.

Feron, Liara, Gianna, and Reed waited at the hatch, rifles ready, safeties off. The other humans were not given guns, for fear one would shoot Adessa. "Though it would be poetic justice," Feron said under his breath.

Reed checked the hatch controls. "External scanner says she's clean."

Liara checked her rifle again to make sure a round was chambered, then nodded. He opened the hatch, then stepped back.

Adessa started through, then stopped as she saw line of guns trained on her. Her mouth twitched. "Shall I raise my hands?"

"Good idea," Feron said. He nodded toward the waiting brig. "In there, please."

"You flatter me," she said as she slowly walked in the indicated direction. "In the last standard day I've been shot by Cerberus assassins, run over by a skycar, and shipwrecked, yet you still feel the need for all these guns. I wish I were as resilient as you think."

"You are resilient enough," Liara said loudly, trying to stay focused. Adessa's voice and movements were graceful and hypnotic. A true predator, Liara thought. If not for the markings, I would believe her to be an Ardat-Yakshi.

"There was a Turian with you before," Adessa said. "Is he all right?"

"Never mind," Feron said.

Her markings shifted as she arched what would have been an eyebrow, but she kept walking. "I take it he's the one who ran me over. Surely he's in better shape than I am?"

"He is fine," Liara said. Her mouth was dry. Just a few more steps.

Adessa walked into the brig and turned to face them. "Happy?"

Feron keyed on the barrier and biotic damping field. "No, but I just got a little closer."

Liara said, "Gianna and I will watch her. Feron, take us back to Omega."


	17. Chapter 17

Gianna said, "We can't just drop her off on Omega with the humans. Aria will have people watching for this ship." She kept her voice low and watched the brig as she spoke. Adessa seemed to be sleeping on the small cot.

"I know," Liara said.

"What are you going to do with her, then?" It was barely a whisper.

A smile tugged at Liara's mouth. "I will keep her in there until one of us thinks of a better solution."

Gianna nodded slowly. "She ought to spend the rest of her life in a damping field. She's too dangerous otherwise. What about the humans?"

"We will put them on a transport for the Citadel. Given their experience, the Alliance should be interested in debriefing them, after...what the Collectors did to the Normandy."

Gianna reached over and squeezed Liara's shoulder. Then she said, "That reminds me. I think I know what killed the last Collector." She reached into a pocket and brought out a small canister. "Adessa dropped this when we were fighting."

"What is it?"

"Looks like an antiviral."

Liara just looked at it for a moment, and then she understood. "That is why she wants Shepard's body. The Collectors will take it back to their homeworld for study. And with it, they will take this...plague she created."

Gianna nodded. "That's why she came after us. This was a test run." One long, slim finger tapped the canister. "She was going to disinfect the ship to make sure none of us exposes any other Collectors to it. She doesn't want them to figure out what's going on, until she gives them the big dose that wipes them all out at once."

"But would the Collectors not detect it when they received Shepard's body?"

"It must be a stealth virus - it lays dormant until activated by some trigger. Could be something as simple as a time release. And I asked Feron earlier. This ship has the best bio-filter Aria's money can buy. It hasn't even blinked."

Liara shivered. "Then we are all infected? Why are we not dead too?"

"It must be genetically tailored to attack Collectors. Though God knows how she did that."

"The Protheans," Liara said. "She broke into one of their cryogenic pods on Ilos. Some Prothean scholars have found similarities between their technology and that obtained from the Collectors. Maybe the Collectors are an offshoot race that somehow survived the Reaper invasion."

Gianna grinned at her. "Some scholars? You're too modest. Just don't go out on a limb like that in print." She looked at the brig and her face went grim. "Anyway, that's what the other kidnappings were for. Type 1 was people she could sell to the Collectors. People with genetic abnormalities or something. I'll bet there was also a type 2. She had to make sure this thing could live inside a dead human body."

One of the prisoners put in, "One of the Suns said something about that." It was the woman who had been clubbed by one of the Collectors. "He was complaining that type 2 packages paid a lot better than type 1."

"I wonder why," Liara said.

"Because I paid for some of the worst scum on Omega," Adessa said. She had turned over on the cot to look at them. "Pirates. Slavers. Killers. Hell, the Suns sold some of their own people to me."

"And that made it okay to use them for terminal medical experiments," Gianna said.

Adessa sounded weary. "Trust me, those people died better than their victims."

"Jesus. You're just like every other lowlife I arrest." Gianna said. "Always some bullshit excuse."

The human woman said, "You know what? If she wants to kill all those...things, good for her." Her face was a grim mask, still caked with dried blood.

Gianna looked at her wrist. She still wore the delicate platinum bracelet Adessa had given her. It went before a bond ceremony bracelet, like an engagement ring. She put her face in her hands.

Liara put an arm around Gianna's shoulders and held her. Adessa stood up off the cot and walked over to the barrier of her cell. She tried to press a hand against it. It gave her a vicious shock, but she didn't complain. She sank to the floor, hugged her knees, and silently watched. Liara thought she saw tears in Adessa's eyes, but she wasn't sure.

* * *

"We have a problem," Feron said.

Liara rose from Gianna's side - she was sleeping now, and Reed had taken over watching Adessa - and hurried to the cockpit.

Feron tapped the controls. Two ships appeared on the viewscreen. They were identical to the Aryera. They were closing fast. "The lead ship is hailing us."

Liara tried to erase all expression from her face. "On screen."

A salarian appeared, standing behind the pilot's seat in a cockpit like their own. Another salarian was piloting the ship. Behind them were several batarians, wearing armor and carrying heavy rifles.

"Dr. T'Soni," the salarian said. "Aria sends her regards. We're here to take charge of your prisoners."

"Prisoners?" Liara frowned. "The humans?"

"Them, and the Asari," the salarian smiled. He nodded at Feron. "Your pilot was kind enough to inform us that she was in your custody."

That was what Liara suspected, too, but the salarian volunteering this information cast doubt on it. But who else could have tipped them off? She said, "We appreciate your offer of assistance. But we will disembark our passengers on Omega, and retain custody of the Asari."

The salarian's smile widened. "But you are on an important mission. There is no need for you to waste time ferrying passengers, or risk having the Asari kill you all. Aria personally guarantees their safe return. She is looking forward to speaking with the Asari."

"We need a minute to discuss your offer," Liara said.

Feron closed the channel. "Their barriers are up. Guns are trained on us."

I do not have time for this, Liara thought. She wished that could excuse what she was about to do. "I cannot let them have the prisoners," she said.

"They don't care about the prisoners," Feron said. "They just want Adessa."

"They can have her," Liara said.

Feron blinked.

Liara said, "Here is what I need you to do." She explained.

Feron had to laugh. "I should have known."

* * *

"You are sure this is the right mixture?" Liara said, keeping her voice low.

"I'm no pharmacist, but that's my best guess, for her age and weight," Gianna said. "Should give her about ten minutes." She handed Liara the syringe.

Liara walked to the brig. Adessa was sitting up on her cot. "I am opening the barrier," Liara said, "but the damping field is still on." She had the syringe in her right hand and her submachine gun in her left. "If you try to run, or attack me, I will shoot you. If I do not, Reed will." She nodded toward Reed, who stood outside the brig with his rifle ready and the safety off.

"What the hell are you doing?" Adessa asked. Her eyes followed every motion of the syringe in Liara's hand.

"I am trying to save your life," Liara said.

"I..." Adessa leaned slightly away from her. "I'm afraid of needles."

"Jesus Christ," Liara said. It was something Kate said, once, in a moment of aggravation. She let out a breath. "As long as you are more afraid of being shot," she said.

"With that bedside manner, it's a good thing your doctorate's in archaeology."

"Let me have your arm."

Adessa did, unwillingly. She was pale, almost teal. "What's in that syringe?"

"Not poison, or I would just shoot you," Liara said. She pressed the muzzle of her gun against Adessa's chest as she looked for the right place for the injection. As she did, she noticed that Adessa's teeth were chattering slightly and beads of sweat were forming on her arm. She wiped some away as she found the vein she was looking for. They were cold.

"For Goddess' sake, get it over with," Adessa said. She looked away.

Liara aligned the needle with the flow of blood and pushed it through the skin. Adessa winced, but managed to hold still. Slowly, Liara pressed the plunger all the way down. Then she slipped the needle back out. As it exited, it automatically released a drop of medi-gel from a small reservoir in the syringe, closing the wound.

"Thanks. When do I get to play doctor?" Adessa said.

"You will live," Liara said. She backed out of the brig, her gun still ready, and turned to the cockpit. "Now," she called to Feron.

Feron sidled the Aryera up to one of the corvettes that had overtaken her. The other one waited off her port side, guns still ready in case of trouble.

The Aryera rocked slightly, and the holographic hatch control changed from red to yellow as the seals mated.

Feron turned to the salarian on the viewscreen. "All right. I'm opening the hatch. But none of your thugs sets foot on this ship, or I blow the hatch seals and we all go swimming."

The salarian adopted a wounded expression. "Of course."

Feron opened the hatch. Two batarians stood on the far side, guns ready, but made no move to enter. Liara pushed the antigrav cart toward the hatch. On it lay Adessa, unconscious.

"Do you have the brig ready?" Liara said.

One of the batarians gestured toward it with his rifle. Liara pushed the cart through the hatch and onto the other ship. The batarians followed her with the muzzles of their guns. Behind her, the hatch closed.

The brig, of course, was in the same place as on the Aryera. One of the batarians opened the barrier. Inside, the biotic damping field flickered to life.

Before Liara made it there, she slipped. Her feet shot out from under her and she slid partway under the cart, landing on her backside with a thud.

Adessa sat up on the cart. Her body was wreathed in white flame.

"Look - " one of the batarians started to shout.

The white flames exploded outward.

Liara crawled out from under the cart and staggered to her feet. She shook her head and blinked, trying to clear the afterimages. The smells of scorched metal and burnt flesh wouldn't go away either. The enemy crew lay all around her, very dead.

Now I use others to do my killing, Liara thought.

Adessa slid off the cart. "T'Soni. You all right?"

"Yes, but we must hurry." She ran to the cockpit. She had to pull the dead salarian pilot out of his chair to sit down. She opened a channel to the Aryera, her fingers hovering over the controls. "Feron - now!"

Feron hit the Aryera's port dorsal thrusters, just as Liara hit her starboard ventrals. The two ships, still joined, spun so that Liara's captured ship was between the Aryera and the remaining corvette. The hatch mating seals groaned and creaked hideously, but they held.

The other corvette's targeting computer was confused. It kept trying to re-lock onto the Aryera, but Liara's ship was now in the way. The batarian gunner swore as he stabbed at the holographic triggers again and again, to no effect.

Liara didn't wait for a target lock. She keyed the guns to manual control and opened fire. A bizarre thought flashed through her head: I am shooting from the hip. Ashley would not approve. She was through the other ship's shields. Vaporized metal began to flash from its hull. Her own ship shuddered as the enemy belatedly returned fire. Her lips skimmed back from her teeth. Distantly, she heard the channel to the Aryera dissolve in a squeal. Feron must have activated the jammer, to prevent the other corvette from sending off any distress signals.

She felt a hand grip her shoulder. "T'Soni!" Adessa shouted. "You got them."

Liara tore her hands away from the firing controls. The other corvette was a fading cloud of fire amid a slowly expanding sphere of debris. She let out a ragged breath and sat back in her chair, ignoring the sticky green blood stains from the dead salarian pilot. She was soaked in sweat.

Adessa sat in the chair next to her and checked the readouts. She frowned and rubbed her eyes. "Shields are down. They got the comm array, too. Guns are mostly working. Drive core and life support are fine."

Liara nodded. "Enough for the passengers to take this ship back to Alliance space."

"I have something else in mind for it," Adessa said. She yawned enormously.

Liara looked at her.

Adessa folded her arms. "Okay. You had to hand me over to Aria's people, or they'd have blown up your ship." She was slurring her words and weaving slightly in her chair, but she didn't seem to notice. "And if anything happens to you, that Drell will just blow up this ship with me on it. Fine. But you can't make me go back in that cell." She shuddered. "Shit. So that's what you put in the - " Her eyes lost focus as she pitched forward into Liara's arms.

* * *

The passengers were aboard the captured ship. Only Reed and Gianna remained. Reed shook Liara's hand. "I'll get these people home. You just be careful." He held her eyes for an extra moment. She nodded.

"You're sure I can't come with you?" Gianna said for the third time.

"Gianna," Liara said. She took Gianna's hands in hers. "You have pushed your luck far enough."

"Not as far as you."

Liara managed a smile. "It is...what I get paid to do."

Gianna hugged her. "You'll find her," she whispered. She looked for a long moment into the brig, where Adessa still lay unconscious. Then she turned and walked through the hatch.

Liara returned to the cockpit and gave Feron the coordinates for the distress signal that would, she hoped, finally lead her to Shepard's body. "As fast as you can get us there," she told him.


	18. Chapter 18

Feron nodded and began working the controls. "Since you haven't thrown me in the brig with Adessa, you must not have believed that salarian."

"An archaeologist must learn to prefer simple explanations over grandiose theories. While it would be romantic to imagine myself surrounded by traitors, it is more likely this ship is simply - bugged."

Feron looked up, as if speaking to a hidden camera. "Please. Aria would never do such a thing." He put his hands over his heart.

"Yes. Which reminds me, I must report in." She now understood why Kate never looked forward to this.

Feron grinned. "I can't wait to hear this."

Liara keyed her omni-tool. After a brief delay, Miranda appeared. She seemed to have been sleeping. But her voice was crisp. "Go ahead."

"We have rescued the prisoners. They are returning to Alliance space in a captured ship. We are now on route to the source of the distress signal."

"Captured? From the Collectors?"

"No, their ship was destroyed. Aria sent two more ships to overtake us. We destroyed one and captured the other."

"Why would she do that?"

"She learned that we captured Adessa."

That stopped Miranda for a moment. She said, "We'll send a ship out to pick her up."

"There is no time. However, it is likely that Aria knows what has happened. You...might want to compensate her for the loss of her ships."

"You're very generous with other people's money."

Liara said, "We saved a dozen human lives, and stopped your rogue agent. I would say you have gotten your money's worth."

"True, you haven't done badly. We'll work something out with Aria. Get some rest. And don't try to interrogate Adessa - we'll handle that."

I can imagine, Liara thought.

"I think you're right," Feron said after she closed the call. "Cerberus can't afford to have Aria run them off of Omega. And Aria isn't going to take this personally. It's just business."

Liara thought about the trail of corpses she'd left behind her since Cerberus had approached her, that bleak winter day in the Johns Hopkins hospital on Earth. "Just business," she said. She wanted to lie down, to let sleep take her, to dream about Kate, to forget, just for a while.

"Where are you going?" Feron said.

"I have work to do."

* * *

The boss - did he ever sleep? - had listened in on the call. "We haven't seen Vakarian with her in a while. I'll bet he was hurt fighting Adessa and is lying low somewhere on Omega. That's why T'Soni's so worried about this. If necessary, we'll trade Vakarian for Shepard's body. And Adessa."

"If we want to find him, we'd better make up with Aria." Miranda hated the thought.

"I'll talk to her. You focus on Aquinas. When will the prototype be ready?"

* * *

Adessa groaned and rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Is it time for my booster shot?"

"I need your help," Liara said.

Adessa rotated to a sitting position. "What trick shall the zoo animal perform for her supper this time?"

In reply, Liara touched the brig controls. The barrier dropped. After a moment, the background hum of the biotic damping field faded as well. She stepped into the cell. The barrier flickered back into life behind her.

Adessa's eyes flicked over Liara, clearly weighing the idea of jumping her, but she became dizzy just standing up. Also, Liara wore a heavy pistol on her right hip.

"Feron has to open the barrier," Liara said. "If anything happens to me, he will flood the cell with knockout gas. Or nerve toxin, if needed."

"Do you think he'll be upset if I just pretend we're on a date?"

"I need you to show me how to make my barriers stronger," Liara said. "Like yours."

Adessa considered it. "We are both fighting the Collectors," she said at last. And you still won't be able to take me, her face said. "All right. Show me."

Liara concentrated briefly. A white corona glowed around her.

Adessa pressed a hand against Liara's arm, immersing it in the shimmering light, and closed her eyes. "Hm." The tips of her fingers glided slowly up Liara's arm to her shoulder. It felt more than a little strange. The last person who had done this was -

"Who trained you?" Adessa asked.

"My mother. Benezia." Liara saw herself, barely twenty years old, in the training room of their palatial house on Thessia. Her mother made her practice, hour after hour, day after day.

"Purebloods," Adessa said. "No one else is good enough for them."

Liara smiled thinly. "Kate is good enough for me."

"You talk about her as if she's alive. You think Cerberus is going to bring her back? You're deluding yourself. I used to work for them, remember. You've seen what comes out of their horror factories."

Liara's fists clenched. "Better that than give in to hatred and become something she would not even recognize."

Adessa sighed. "I've been where you are. I said I'd never give up. That, somehow, Goddess knew how, I'd get her back. It was what I lived for. I didn't eat. I didn't sleep. I crawled on my knees in front of people you and your mother wouldn't even look at, if I thought it would give me a lead. I went to work for Cerberus, because they were the only ones who would listen to me about the Collectors. And eventually...eventually I realized this was all I could do for her."

"What about Gianna?" Liara said gently.

"I...tried. The hell of it is, that's the part I can't forgive myself. I tried to put it behind me. To go on. With Gianna. But..."

"It is what your daughter would want. And it is not too late. Given time, I think Gianna would understand."

Adessa shook her head. "It's like she said. This is what I am."

"You always have a choice. Even my mother did, in the end."

"Why didn't you just hand me over to Aria's people?"

"I do not know what should happen to you, but it is not a bullet in the head from Aria. Or a Cerberus torture facility."

Adessa took her hand away from Liara's shoulder. Liara had forgotten it was there. "You're exerting too much control." It took Liara a second to realize Adessa was talking about her barriers. "You don't have to put every photon in place. Let them organize themselves."

"Organize themselves," Liara said. She let her barriers dissipate, then re-form, trying to follow Adessa's instruction. The cell crackled as white fire rose from her body like fog and wisped away in every direction.

"No," Adessa said, waving the random streams of energy away from her as if pushing through a curtain. "Here, watch." She put her own barriers into place, slowly. Liara watched, then reached out and pressed her hand against Adessa's arm, as Adessa had done to her. It was like touching vulcanized rubber; yielding, but impenetrable. Liara's own barriers were porous in comparison. She kept her hand on Adessa's arm as she tried again, trying to mimic her by feel.

Adessa sighed again. "Maybe you're right. We'll see."

* * *

Feron said, "We're here." He keyed the biotic damper back on, but dropped the barrier. Adessa stayed put as Liara walked out of the cell and Feron put the barrier back up. Liara knew she was just waiting for a better chance.

She followed Feron to the cockpit. He sat in the pilot's seat. "Stealth systems already engaged. Sensors are picking up a ship."

Liara sat in the captain's chair, fighting down excitement, and fear. This is the next link in the chain, she thought. And also a trap. Her fingers tightened on the armrests. And I - we - will get through it. Her voice was steady as she said, "On screen."

It was a freighter, boxy and ugly like any other, hanging lifeless in deep space. Like a spider in the center of its web, Liara thought, recalling something she had seen on Earth.

"No active mass effect fields," Feron said. "Minimal power readings. No life signs. Some odd thermal emissions, though. Especially near the airlock."

"Battle damage?" Liara said.

"Yes. One of the engines is still leaking propellant. Comm array has been shot off - must have been after they sent the distress call. A couple of hull ruptures. If it's a trap, someone did their homework."

"Can we access the freighter's computer?"

"Not from here. We'd have to board and restore enough power to bring it up again."

Miranda had sent Liara the reports from the vanished Cerberus team. Liara opened them again. "They found the ship, just as we see it. They boarded. Then the reports simply stopped."

"From both the Cerberus ship, and the freighter," Feron said.

She nodded.

"And no jamming was detected."

She shook her head.

He checked his sensor readouts. "The debris is all from damage to the freighter. The Cerberus ship wasn't destroyed. It went somewhere. Its crew should have gotten off a report they were being boarded, at least. And their own boarding party would have been suited, so nerve gas wouldn't hurt them. What the hell does this?"

"We will find out." Liara stood, left the cockpit, and walked to the hardsuit locker.

Feron looked over his shoulder. "Liara..."

She stepped into the pants. "It is the only way."

"We should leave an open channel to Cerberus. Let them see what happens, in case anyone has to come after us."

"No. That might be how they detected the Cerberus team."

"Those thermal emissions near the airlock could be explosives. Or transmitters. If I jam the signal, they'll still know we're here."

"Then I will go in through one of the hull ruptures."

"There might also be someone still aboard. Smugglers and slavers have holds that can passively block sensors. That's how they hide their cargo, in places where anyone actually cares."

"Come with me, then." She secured her helmet. She was already sweating. Since Kate's death, and the recurrent nightmares, she'd been terrified of going EVA.

"And who will - no. That's too far, even for you."

"We will see."

* * *

Feron suited up and joined Liara at the airlock, which was across from the largest of the freighter's hull ruptures. Its jagged black mouth waited to tear their spacesuits to ribbons, spew their air into the endless empty night, and -

"Liara." Feron touched his helmet to hers, trying to see her face. He must have heard her breathing. "All you all right?"

She swallowed and nodded. "Yes." She made sure the inner hatch was shut, checked her helmet seals for the twentieth time, glanced at Feron for confirmation, and slapped open the outer hatch. A breeze tugged at her as dust swirled out into the void, then all was still and silent.

She pretended Kate was watching her, that it was just another of her many drills. "Loosen up, T'Soni." They weren't together yet. Liara wanted to impress her. She paid close attention, trying to listen to Shepard's words and not just drift away on her voice. So calm and sure. She loved hearing that voice talk to her, just the two of them.

"Lean forward. Bend your knees. Remember to push off gently. If you're too gentle, you'll still get there, it'll just take longer. Too hard and you'll knock yourself out. Okay? Here we go. Good. Now curl up slowly. Bring your knees up and your head down at the same time. Don't spin yourself. Good."

Her boots touched down on the deck of the other ship. She flailed, but their magnetic grip kept her upright. Feron landed beside her. "Good jump," he said.

* * *

They had landed in an empty corridor. The overhead lighting flickered dimly, showing dust motes and bits of metal from the damaged hull that hung in the zero-gravity space. Liara took one step at a time - "Don't take both feet off the hull, T'Soni, or you'll go swimming."

They came to a hatch. Feron said, "This compartment is aired. No gravity, though." They'd decided they could use their suit channels without fear of detection. If another ship were outside, waiting in ambush, it was beyond the Aryera's impressive sensor range, which meant they should also be invisible to it, even outside the Aryera's stealth envelope. Unless they triggered whatever trap this was.

Feron examined the hatch with his omni-tool. "Looks clean." He keyed the controls to put a temporary atmosphere-retention forcefield in place, then opened it. They stepped through.

It was the ship's dining compartment. It was a mess. Plates, utensils, cups, bits of food, and blobs of liquid drifted through the air in every direction.

"The crew was eating when they were attacked," Liara said.

"Looks like human food," Feron said. "Let's keep heading toward the bridge."

"Wait," Liara said. The feeling was getting stronger. "There is someone here."

Somehow, despite the zero gravity, Feron was at once behind a booth, his Viper ready.

"Not in this compartment," Liara said. She stepped over to another hatch, one that led not forward, but aft. "This way."

"Toward the cargo holds," Feron said. "Any idea how many?"

"Just one, I think," Liara said. "And it must be someone I have met before, or I would not sense them at all."

"Cozy," Feron said. He checked the hatch control. "Clean again. No gravity yet."

He opened the hatch.

Liara gasped and took a step backward. She'd seen plenty of bodies, but this one was hanging upside down, just outside the hatchway, its eyes wide and mouth open in a rictus of rage and fear. It had been shot in several places, and a red mist of blood swirled around it, like the drinks in the compartment behind them. Liara fought down the urge to vomit.

"Human," Feron said. "Not Cerberus. Must be one of the original crew."

They went through, ducking under the corpse, but some of the blood got on their suits. Liara had to wipe it from her faceplate. She was shaking. She saw an image from her readings in human history: a ghost ship, dead men at the oars, struck down by the Black Death after they left port, wandering forever on the seas.

"Stay calm, Doctor," Kate's voice said. "You're doing fine. Just hang a little longer, okay? We'll find a way to get you out of there, I promise."

"She was here," Liara said aloud.

"This friend of yours?" Feron asked.

"No, Shepard. I can feel it." Her shaking had stopped.

They went through another hatch, but this one was uneventful. The section of corridor beyond had blessed gravity. Liara gratefully turned off the magnets in her boots. They walked in silence for several minutes, guns ready.

"We are getting close," she said. She frowned. "No, the feeling is becoming weaker now."

That was explained when the cover to an overhead duct clattered to the deck behind them.


	19. Chapter 19

"Freeze, both of you!" the voice said. Liara had heard it before, but now it was shrill and frightened.

Carefully, she touched her omni-tool, activating her suit's external speakers. "Miss al-Jilani? It is Doctor Liara T'Soni."

"T'Soni?" al-Jilani said. "No. Don't be stupid, Khalisah, you're hallucinating. Put those guns down!"

"You know this woman?" Feron said.

"Yes," Liara said. She knelt and lay her submachine on the deck, then straightened and turned around, her hands raised, palms out. After a moment, Feron did likewise.

Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani pointed the huge barrel of the Mattock rifle at the space between them. She had exchanged her usual floor-length dress for a black tech's suit, which was torn in several places. Her normally coiffured black hair was wild, her face smudged with dirt and grease, her dark eyes wide, the whites showing vividly around them.

"I am going to remove my helmet," Liara said, "so you can see it is really me."

Al-Jilani jerked the barrel of the rifle, by way of consent.

Liara and Feron took off their helmets. Liara said, "To answer your question, yes. Shepard and I had a relationship. That is why I am here looking for her."

The rifle barrel sagged. "Oh, thank God," al-Jilani said. Tears glistened in her eyes. "I was sure you were more of the Shadow Broker's people."

Feron said, "Now I recognize you. That xenophobic propagandist from Westerlund News." He turned to Liara. "I'm guessing you won't let me kill her, either."

"Please," al-Jilani said. "We have to get out of here before those, those things come back."

"Things?" Liara said.

"Those bugs!" al-Jilani said. "How did you get through them?"

Feron retrieved his Viper. "This just sounds better and better." He looked at his omni-tool. "Those thermal emissions we saw from the Aryera. One of them is heading this way." He looked up at the hatch, about ten meters down the corridor.

"Oh, God, no," al-Jilani said. She was shaking. There was no way she could aim the rifle. Gently, Liara took it from her. She suddenly preferred it to her submachine gun.

It didn't matter.

The hatch opened. Beyond it, at first, Liara saw nothing but blackness. Then she realized the blackness was moving. Churning. Then it erupted into a balled-up swarm of insects, so many furiously beating wings it was like a boulder thundering toward them.

Liara threw her left hand out in front of her. A blue wall sprang up, just in time. It crackled and spat as the first of the insects slammed into it. Then they were all beating against it, again and again, until it flared in a thousand places like phosphorescent algae on the ocean.

Al-Jilani was screaming, a single unchanging high thin wail.

"Gods," Feron said. "How long can you keep this up?"

"Not long," Liara said. Already she trembled with the strain of keeping the barrier in place against the multitude of impacts. "It is time for our backup plan."

"Oh, good," Feron said, keying his omni-tool. "I wouldn't miss it."

* * *

Aboard the Aryera, the barrier to Adessa's cell snapped off. Her feet barely touched the deck as she ran to the cockpit and jumped into the pilot's seat. She keyed the comm. "T'Soni?"

"Adessa!" Liara was shouting to be heard over some kind of horrendous racket. "Our omni-tool sensors are not working. Find us a route to the main hatch. Aired sections only, and no thermal emissions!"

She brought up a scan of the freighter's interior, searching frantically. "I can't find any."

Just then, the Aryera's proximity sensors began blaring a warning. "What the fuck now?" she said, keying for a visual.

A gigantic ship warped in, almost on top of the Aryera. It was long, blunt, partly metal and mostly rock, with a series of rings and spokes that jutted cruelly from what might have been the side of a mountain.

A Collector cruiser.

"Goddess," Adessa whispered.

A new voice came from the comm - the Drell. "Adessa, use the grapples and plasma torches. Upper-right panel. They're on the ventral hull."

Of course. That must be how they'd boarded the Stinger. "Hold on," she said. She kicked the Aryera into motion, trying to keep the freighter between herself and the Collectors, homing in on Liara's transmission.

"I cannot hold the barrier," Liara's voice was edging toward panic. "They are going to get through."

"I'm almost there," Adessa said, though she didn't know what Liara meant. "Remember, ease up. Let the barrier organize itself."

"I - okay. Okay," Liara said. She sounded better.

Adessa didn't bother with the grapples. She brought the Aryera's ventral hull flush with the freighter, about twenty meters down the corridor from Liara's signal. She wasn't the pilot Feron was. The Aryera rocked with the impact. She winced as she bit her tongue hard enough to taste blood. "Get ready," she told them.

* * *

Aboard the freighter, the corridor was suddenly filled with a terrible roar that drowned out even the swarm of insects. Liara, Feron, and al-Jilani were bathed in a white light. Al-Jilani started to turn around. Feron grabbed her and kept her face turned away. The light faded, and the roar with it. Then Liara realized she couldn't hear anything. Al-Jilani clapped her hands over her ears. Then they were flying through the air, backward, pulled by a hurricane wind.

Adessa cut through the hull, Liara realized. The corridor is decompressing. Then the gale stopped. The boarding tube must be attached. She crashed to the deck, grunting in pain. Another light, not as bright this time, shone from above her. She rolled onto her back and looked up. There was the hole in the overhead, still glowing red around the rim.

Her barrier had snapped. The horde of insects was again surging down the corridor toward them. With the last of her strength, Liara spun a biotic field under the three of them and hurled them up through the hole and into the Aryera. The boarding hatch cycled shut behind them. Liara's head thudded to the deck. Blackness took her.

* * *

The Collectors seemed to realize at once their trap had failed. A crackling yellow lightning bolt erupted from the maw of their ship, shearing the freighter nearly in two just as Adessa cleared it. Then it came looking for the Aryera, inviting them all to their deaths.

"Not today, I think," she said as she engaged the FTL drive. The Aryera vanished as if it was never there.

* * *

Liara awoke with an awful headache. She was laying on a bunk in a darkened room. There was a soft pillow under her head, and her body was covered with a warm blanket. She sat up, her heart thudding, expecting to find herself in the brig. No, the compartment was too big. It was the Aryera's sleeping quarters. She started again as she saw someone sitting on the opposite bunk, deep in shadows.

"How are you feeling?" Feron said.

Liara lay back down and smiled, enjoying the feel of the pillow under her aching head. "Are you standing guard?"

"Against Adessa? Sure. It's the thought that counts."

"We are alive. And...I told you so."

He smiled back. "You're right. I didn't give her enough credit. Her best chance of finding Shepard is to stay right behind you. Then she can kill you."

She sighed. She suspected he was right, but... "You do not believe in anything."

"Depends on who's paying."

"What is the point? You may as well be dead already."

"Well, you're a blue ray of sunshine this morning." He sat forward a little. "Liara...if we don't find Shepard, or she doesn't come back, or she isn't what you expect...whatever happens, don't let it change you."

That caught her off guard. Before she could reply, he rose from his seat. "Now, is there anything you need?"

Reluctantly, she pushed the blanket off, rotated to a sitting position, and stood up as well. "Yes. Answers."

* * *

Liara and Feron went to the cockpit. Adessa was there, in the pilot's seat, watching the sensor readouts. She stood and let Feron take her place.

"Where is Miss al-Jilani?" Liara said.

"In the brig," Adessa said, "learning what 'no comment' means."

"Does she know anything about Shepard's body?" Liara stopped breathing, unaware. This was all they had left.

"Yes," Adessa said. "She saw it."

"Oh, Goddess," Liara said. She knotted her hands together. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She had trouble getting the words out. "Was it - was it -"

"It was intact," Adessa said. She was watching Liara, and seemed strangely distracted. "I gather it wasn't pretty. But they put it in a stasis unit. It was taken to one of the Shadow Broker's bases. We're on our way there now."

Liara put her face in her hands and shuddered with sobs. Feron rose from the pilot's seat and took an uncertain step toward her. Adessa started to put a hand on Liara's shoulder, but then drew it back. She looked at the floor.

Liara lowered her hands. "How - how does she know? How did it happen?"

Adessa smiled. "Let's go talk to her. I'm sure she'd enjoy another interview."

* * *

On the way to the brig, Liara stopped and turned to Adessa. "I have not thanked you for saving us."

"Don't. I did it because I couldn't find the body myself. Not when half the galaxy doesn't want me to."

Feron was right, then. But... "We cannot find it when we are fighting one another, either."

"I know. T'Soni..." Adessa looked down, then back up at Liara. "If we find the - if we find Shepard...you can have her. I'll find...some other way."

Liara stared. "Then...why help us?"

Adessa's markings shifted as her eyes narrowed. "If the Collectors want Shepard, they mustn't get her. They won't." She let out a breath. "I'm not a justicar. I can't swear an oath of service to you. All I can give you is my word."

Now Liara looked down. "Before all this began, I would have accepted that without question." Her words to Feron came back to mock her.

"T'Soni...Liara. Seeing you, just now, when you found out about Shepard..." Adessa hugged herself. "I saw myself, right after Missa was taken. I can't do to you what they did to her. If you don't trust me, I'll understand. If you want to drop me off somewhere, you can. If you want to put me back in that cell, I'll go." Her mouth twitched. "But take that reporter out first."

Liara looked at Adessa, trying to see through the woman's grief and anger and fear to what lay underneath.

Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on?

Goddess, Kate, I wish you were here. Help me.

Don't worry, Liara. I trust you. I know you won't let me down.

Slowly, Liara held out her hand. Adessa took it.

* * *

Liara keyed open the barrier. Inside the cell, al-Jilani looked up at them. She was still covered in grime and wearing the same ripped clothing. She tapped restlessly at her omni-tool.

"Can I please get back on the net?" she said. "I have to file this story, and get a new camerabot sent out."

Liara turned to Adessa. "You did not let her clean up? Has she had any food?"

Adessa folded her arms. "She was more interested in pestering me."

Al-Jilani smiled. "I'm glad you changed your mind. Two beautiful and fearless Asari, Commander Shepard's tragic widow and a rogue justicar, in an exclusive interview with the reporter they rescued while on the deadly trail of Shepard's body."

Adessa said, "Terra Firma isn't going to like that slant."

Al-Jilani said, "Oh, I'll sell it somehow. An ironic twist of humanity's rescue of the Asari flagship, the Dest-"

Liara said, "Please, forget you are a reporter, and just tell me what happened. Everything."

Al-Jilani looked at Liara and saw the dark blue puffiness around her eyes. "I'm sorry." She took a breath and sat back. "Well, I heard the Omega Nebula was crawling with people looking for Shepard's body. Bounty hunters, Cerberus, the Shadow Broker, and probably the Boy Scouts. I didn't know why it was so important, but I figured there must be something. So I hitched a ride with one of the bounty hunters. They've, uh, dug things up for me before. Anyway, we got a tip that the Normandy was lost in the Amada system, so we started there.

The captain was contacted by the Shadow Broker. The Broker offered to trade a map of where his people had already looked for the captain's promise to sell him Shepard's body, if he found it, at a set price. The captain agreed. But then he made a mistake.

He contacted Cerberus and made the same offer. And Cerberus agreed. They sent him their map, and by combining it with the Broker's, the captain narrowed down the search area. He was still lucky to find the body - if luck is the word for it. He thought he'd have Cerberus and the Shadow Broker bidding over it. He'd make so much money he could hide even from them."

Adessa said, "You should've taken your chances in an escape pod right then."

"I would have, but I didn't find all this out until later, digging in the computer. The map the Broker sent had some kind of virus. None of the filters caught it. Right after they got the body into stasis, the ship just shut down. The drive, the barriers, the guns, everything except life support. They just got off a distress call when the comms went too.

The captain had a hideout in one of the cargo holds. They were shielded from sensors, and he had food and water and guns stashed down there. He told me the entry code, and I made sure I knew how to get there from anywhere on the ship. When everything shut down, I ran for it. He had a backup computer terminal down there, too, so I...watched." She looked down.

"They blew the hull in a couple of places and spaced half the crew outright. Then they boarded and shot whoever was left." She shuddered. "The Broker clearly planned it from the beginning. The captain's betrayal only helped him."

"Did they not find your hideout?" Liara said.

Al-Jilani hugged herself. "They didn't need to. Once they had the body, they left. But then...the other ones came. The monsters."

"The Collectors," Adessa said.

Al-Jilani didn't seem to hear. "They let those swarms of...bugs loose. There were a couple of crewmen who managed to hide during the fighting earlier. But the bugs...found them. They bit them, and paralyzed them. Then the monsters took them away. The monsters left, but the bugs stayed.

Another ship came, but as soon as they opened the airlock, the bugs got them too. The monsters came back and took them, and their ship."

"It was a trap," Liara said. "The Shadow Broker made sure the distress call leaked out. Anyone who came looking for Shepard - like us - would be caught by the Collectors."

"Killing Shepard wasn't enough," Adessa said. "They want her crew dead, too."

"And it is why the Cerberus team just stopped reporting in," Liara said. "Those insects were too fast for them. If even one of them had gotten through my biotic barrier..."

Al-Jilani said, "I got into the security system and listened in as the Broker's people were taking Shepard's body. One of them was complaining about radiation. I played the tapes again and realized one of them said 'Utha'."

"In the Arinlarkan system," Adessa said. "Covered in water, lightning storms, and gamma rays. Perfect for one of the Broker's little love nests. That's where we're headed."

"But if he gave the ship to the Collectors..." Liara said.

"Why not give them Shepard too?" Adessa said. "He must be holding out for something. Just like your idiot bounty hunter. He gave them the ship - and whoever came after it - as a show of good faith."

"Jesus," al-Jilani said.

"I am sorry," Liara told her, "but we must get there as soon as we can. We have no time to drop you off somewhere safe."

"Safe?" al-Jilani said. "Screw that. This is the story of 2184. No way I'm missing it."

"Good to hear," Adessa said.


	20. Chapter 20

"So," Feron said, "we don't know where on the planet this base is, or how to find it, except by being shot down when we get too close. We don't know what it looks like inside, or where Shepard's body is. And there's presumably a Collector ship in orbit that also doesn't want us there. Does that sum it up?" The four of them were crowded into the cockpit.

"Yes. There is no way we can fight our way in. We are going to need some pretext to get inside," Liara said.

"Why not just say we're there to bid on Shepard's body?" Khalisah asked.

"Whatever the Broker's selling her for, it isn't money," Adessa said.

"What about letting the Collectors get the body, then ambushing their ship as it leaves?" Feron said.

"Forget it," Adessa said. "If it's like the one that jumped us back there, it could have thousands of them aboard."

"Could we get your friends at Cerberus to help? Or the Alliance?" Khalisah said.

"They would never get here in time," Liara said. "But if the Broker is doing business with the Collectors here, his defenses must be substantial. If we could get control of them..."

"We could drive the Collector ship off and escape during the fireworks," Feron said.

"We know the Collectors are interested in Shepard's former crew," Adessa said. "We could say we're bounty hunters, and we captured Liara."

"Yes," Liara said. "That might even get us to where the sale is to take place."

"That just leaves the question of how to ring the old boy up," Feron said.

Khalisah tapped her omni-tool. "I have the frequency the Broker used to call Captain Reese - the bounty hunter I was sailing with."

"Very good," Liara said. "We will wait until we reach orbit."

* * *

They stopped for a few hours to alter the Aryera's appearance, in case the Collectors recognized it. Feron and Khalisah went EVA to paint a new name on the hull, remove some external equipment, and add the appearance of battle damage and neglected maintenance. As Aria had said, Feron had some experience at disguising stolen merchandise, and Khalisah was a quick study.

Liara offered to help, but Feron said her time was better spent getting more biotic instruction from Adessa. So she did, focusing as best she could, knowing the Collectors might be taking Shepard's body aboard even now.

"There's something I left out earlier," Adessa said. She reached into a pocket and brought out a small canister, like the antiviral Gianna had taken from her earlier, which Liara had used to disinfect the Aryera.

Liara said, "Is that - "

"Yes. It's coded to replicate at a controlled rate - enough to keep it below the radar - for two months. Enough time for the Collectors to take it back to their homeworld and spread it. Then the replication speeds up."

Liara shuddered as she recalled Gianna's description of how the Collector died aboard the Stinger. "But we do not have two months."

"I know. I can also trigger the increased replication early." She brought out another canister. "As soon as one of these meets one of these - " she held up the first canister - "inside a host, the host dies within an hour. It won't take them all by surprise - it will be killing them as fast as it's spreading - but the result will be the same."

"Why not tell the others this?"

"Because you're the only one I trust with the decision. If I use these, we have to take the Collector ship out. I can't let them get this and figure out how to stop it."

Kate would not do this, Liara thought.

"What else would we need?" she heard herself say.

"Just get me to the ventilation systems," Adessa said.

* * *

"There it is," Feron said. "Just came into range." Utha appeared on the screen, a blue-white marble. Liara thought of Earth, and her chest tightened.

"Cut the FTL drive. Engage stealth systems," she ordered. "Are there any Collector ships?"

He looked over the sensor readouts. "None that I can see, but then, I can't see half of what's in orbit, or anything below that. There's a reason escaped slaves love this planet so much. Slavers, too, of course. And the Collectors could be using an alien ship, like they did on Omega."

"As long as they aren't as well-armed as that cruiser was," Adessa said.

"All right," Liara said. "Call him."

Feron keyed the comm. "Shadow Broker. This is Captain Riyat of the Al-Jazeera. I have a package for you. Dr. Liara T'Soni, former shipmate of Commander Shepard."

They waited.

"Shad - "

"Captain Riyat. Who are you, and why are you on this frequency?" The voice was salarian.

"I'm a friend of Captain Reese. He gave me the frequency. Said there was a pile of credits to be made if I found Shepard's body. Well, her girlfriend was out looking too, and I found her instead. Alive. You interested?"

Another pause. "Very well. Proceed to these coordinates. We will tractor you in." A row of numbers appeared on the comm display, then the channel closed.

"That was too easy," Adessa said.

Feron said, "Easier for him to kill us and scrap the ship this way anyway."

"Not good for repeat business," Khalisah said.

"Neither is going into slaving," Feron said. "The Council tolerates him as it is, but that's pushing it. And what else is he doing here?"

"That is why he did not ask how you came to this planet," Liara said.

"Yes. No point scaring us off. He wants to see what we know, then shut us up for good."

* * *

They arrived at the specified coordinates...to find nothing but empty ocean from horizon to horizon.

"Shadow Broker," Feron said to the comm. "Have you looked at any maps lately?"

"Stand by, Al-Jazeera," the salarian said.

Below them, the water began to churn and froth. A hole - Liara could think of no other word - opened in the ocean and began to widen. Waves spread outward from it in concentric rings. Inside the hole, she could see nothing but blackness, but the edge shimmered and a ring of steam rose from it.

Feron checked the sensor readouts. "It's a mass effect field cylinder," he said, not sounding as if he believed it. The ship shuddered. "Tractor's got us. Coming from down there."

They sank into the hole. Around them, the water changed from blue to indigo to black. Still, they could see the glowing eyes of alien sea creatures watching them from the other side of the mass effect curtain. Feron switched on the Aryera's lights, but they barely made a dent in the wall of night that curved around them.

Liara heard a whisper behind her. She turned and saw Adessa staring at the viewscreen, her hands gripping the arms of her seat, the whites showing all around her violet eyes. She had to lean close to hear: "...all right...you're all right..."

She is claustrophobic, Liara thought. She put her hands on Adessa's shoulders. "It is all right," she said quietly. "It is no worse than space." Her mouth quirked. "And better than a dig site."

Feron swore as he fought with the sensors. "Space is broad daylight next to this." Liara nudged him sharply. She could feel his surprise, but he stopped.

"Got something," he said. "Another ship. It's inside the same kind of mass effect cylinder we are." He touched a key and projected a holographic outline of the ship. "Except bigger," he added.

It was a Collector ship, resting vertically on what seemed to be its thruster apertures. The bow, from which had erupted the bolt of energy that nearly destroyed the Aryera, pointed upward.

"Thank the Goddess," Liara said.

"You know, that's what I said when we got away from that damned thing," Feron said.

Liara shook her head. "If they are here, then so is Shepard." And if I must kill every Collector on that ship to get her, I will.

"Is that the same ship we ran into before?" Adessa spoke for the first time.

He ran a comparison. "I can't tell."

"This place must have a landing pad a mile wide," Khalisah said.

"How can a ship that size escape this planet's gravity?" Liara said.

"And how come we didn't see that opening from above?" Khalisah said.

"It's closed over them," Feron said. "They must be able to extend and retract the cylinder. Sensors hardly work on this planet anyway, and through all that water - forget it." He chose not to mention that the cylinder the Aryera was in had also closed over them. "Landing pad is coming up."

They landed on a raised platform. Below it, the surface of the underwater base curved away from them in all directions. Above them, the mass effect field cylinder collapsed until it was just a dome separating them from the ocean above.

"There's no material strong enough to withstand this weight of water," Adessa said.

"I do not think it was meant to," Liara said. "It is the mass effect field that keeps it from collapsing."

"There's no way to generate that strong a field, either," Adessa said.

"A mass relay could," Liara said. "Like the Citadel."

"Not that conspiracy theory again," Khalisah said.

Feron looked at the sensor readouts. "Whatever it is, it's not a relay. I'd be able to see the element zero emissions."

A hatch opened in the surface of the platform. From it rose a salarian, standing on a lift.

Feron stood. "Let's go greet the natives." Liara and Adessa followed him to the airlock. They'd agreed that Khalisah would stay behind and coordinate. She'd supplied subdermal tracking devices and encrypted communicators for each of them. "Just don't talk too much, or they'll detect you," she said.

* * *

"Captain Riyat?" the salarian said, inclining his head to Feron. He turned to Liara. "And this is the merchandise?"

"I am standing right here," Liara said. Her hands were cuffed in front of her.

"So I see," the salarian said. He swept her with his omni-tool. "Biometric profile matches what we have on record."

"Let's go inside and talk money, then," Feron said.

"Right this way," the salarian said. He led them to the lift. They descended.

They emerged in a spherical central chamber. Though the lift had guard rails, Adessa grabbed Liara's arm for support. The chamber was so large they could barely see the far side. It was crisscrossed with walkways and platforms, and festooned with a web of pipes and cables of every description. The outer wall was honeycombed with smaller chambers. Liara thought they must be living quarters, but she couldn't tell.

"Gods," Feron said. "Who built this?"

"It is not Prothean," Liara said. "It must be older."

"Maybe you can help us with that," the salarian smiled. "I'm looking forward to your debriefing." Liara fell silent.

When the salarian wasn't looking, Feron nudged Liara. She followed his gaze and froze. On a platform almost all the way across the chamber, she could make out the shapes of at least a dozen Collectors. One of them was gesturing, apparently talking to a human. Behind the human stood a group of other humans, salarians, and krogan.

And next to them was a long, flat crate.

Liara nearly shoved their salarian guard off the lift right there. She could spring her handcuffs, and she and Adessa could -

She forced herself to relax. It is too far, and there are too many, she told herself. Find the environmental controls. Get Adessa's plague into the circulation systems and kill the Collectors. Then they won't take Shepard anywhere.

While she was distracted, their lift had stopped alongside another platform. Three more humans waited for them. They wore armor, but were armed only with pistols.

Liara was thinking that was odd, if they intended some kind of double-cross, when a hand clapped over the back of her neck. Her whole body seemed to light up.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on the floor, having landed painfully on her side, unable to do more than twitch. Adessa was lying nearby, in a similar condition.

As consciousness faded, she heard one of the humans say, "Well done, Operative Feron."


	21. Chapter 21

Liara awoke with an awful headache. Again. The first thing she saw was Feron standing over her. At first, that didn't make sense. Then she tried to lunge for his throat, but all she managed was a convulsive shudder.

"Take it easy," he said.

She tried to hit him with a biotic field, but rather than a corona of white flame erupting around her, all she got was a feeble crackle.

"Biotic damping field," he said. "It's all right. I'm here to get you out."

"Why?" she managed to say. If she concentrated, she was able to move her fingers.

"Well, when I'm not working for the Broker, I work for Cerberus. One of the old man's favorite little elves, in fact. Like your friend Lawson, but better looking."

Liara said, "At least Lawson is honest about whose side she is on." She struggled to a sitting position.

He shrugged. "The boss knew about that unfortunate incident on the Citadel. As soon as he heard you were in touch with Vakarian, he figured I'd be next. And he figured the Broker would approach me as well. He told me to say yes to both of you. And now here we are. You were my ticket in."

"Beware of Drell bearing gifts," Liara said. She put her feet on the floor.

"Indeed. While you were napping, I got into the computer and uploaded the base specs to Khalisah. The woman is wasting her time doing honest work, by the way. She traced the thermal flows and figured out where the power and environmental controls are."

Liara stood up and waited for the cell to quit spinning around her. "Wait. How do you know we are looking for - "

He held up the two canisters Adessa had showed Liara. "I found these on Adessa. I figured she'd have something like this, just in case. I told the guards they were contraceptives. Do you think she'll be mad?"

"Where is she? And how do we get out of here?"

"In the next cell. I'm here to take you to your interrogation. The Collectors want a word with you. But it's a big base, and I'm afraid we're going to get lost."

"Then let us wake her, too." Liara walked to the door.

"I can't take both of you. It would look suspicious, and we'll never get to the controls if we start shooting now. But I can open her cell remotely. She might be able to slip out, or give us a diversion."

"Let me do that. Take her with you. She is stronger."

He shook his head. "The safest place in this galaxy is right next to you."

* * *

Feron escorted Liara out of the detention area with his pistol at her back. She tried not to turn her head as her eyes darted around the vast network of catwalks and lifts, extending almost out of sight above and below them. "Where are we going?" she said, keeping her voice down, as a patrol passed them in the other direction.

"There's a supply room this way. We'll find you something to play dress-up with."

"Trick or treat," Liara said. She and Kate left Earth before Halloween, but she remembered the grinning jack o'lantern in the lobby of their bed and breakfast.

In the empty supply room, they found a hardsuit for Liara with the Broker's three-pronged insignia. The helmet didn't fit her, but they found a container of paint, which Feron used to quickly apply some red markings to Liara's face.

"Why are you smiling?" Feron asked as he worked.

"I did this, once, when I was young," Liara said. "Adult Asari do not call one another 'pureblood' to their faces, but children are not so restrained. One day, I just did not want to be one any more."

"What did your mother do?"

"She told me the other girls said it to feel better about themselves. And she asked me to try not to be too angry with them. There are purebloods who look down on other species, and even on Asari who bond with them. She did not want me to become like that."

"Wise woman."

"Yes." Liara's smile was sad. "I wish I could have introduced Kate to her. When she was herself, I mean."

Feron clapped her shoulder. "Once we get to the controls, we'll tie Khalisah in. Then they'll have to hand Shepard over if they want to keep breathing." He tried on a helmet that somewhat matched his hardsuit and covered his face. There were no guns, but he still had his sniper rifle, so he put his pistol in Liara's belt holster. They left the supply room at a brisk walk.

Liara said, "Where is she?"

"They're still haggling over, uh, her. The Broker's probably worried the Reapers are going to just wipe him out like everyone else, and he wants some additional tech to help him hide."

Her smile was grim. "So you do not think it is a conspiracy theory."

"If you believe it, that's good enough for me."

"So the Broker is not here?"

"Forget it. He'd never invite the Collectors to his private dump."

She shook her head. "If he would just give us Shepard, he would not have to hide."

"You really think Cerberus can bring her back."

Liara's mouth set. "We have not come this far to fail."

"I heard a rumor, before I left Omega. On the Cerberus grapevine, you could say. Something called Aquinas. Apparently Lawson is running it herself. I gather it's like a graybox, but much more powerful. That would make sense, if it's tied to what you're saying."

"But Shepard did not have a graybox."

"That would present a problem."

They were approaching the main control center, another spherical chamber at the center of the one they were in. Their walkway led to a hatch halfway up the outside of the sphere.

"It must be ten stories tall," Liara said. "How do we get in?" There were two guards with heavy rifles in front of the hatch.

"Khalisah." Feron said. "Any luck with that code yet?"

Thanks to the subdermal communicator, Al-Jilani's voice seemed to come from inside Liara's head. "Yes. Code is gamma zed alpha."

"Boring," Feron said. "Glad I don't work here."

"You're welcome," Khalisah said.

"Let us hurry. They are going to be missing us any time now," Liara said.

They walked up to the two guards, who watched them from behind skull-like helmets.

"It's your lucky day, gentlemen," Feron said. "You're relieved."

"Yeah?" one of the guards said. He sounded interested. "Code?"

"Gamma zed alpha," Feron said.

The other guard looked at them. The viewports on his helmet were red discs, giving him a demonic appearance. "How did we get so lucky?"

"Word is the boss wants to keep everyone fresh while our guests are here," Feron said. He spoke to the first guard. "Of course, if you were really looking forward to standing here for another four hours, I've got some Hanar porn I wanted to catch up on - "

The guard held up his hands. "No thanks. Come on, Bill." The two of them walked away as Feron and Liara took up positions outside the door.

Feron said, "Someone will notice if no one's out here." He unslung his sniper rifle, and handed the two canisters of Adessa's plague virus to Liara. "I'll stay. You go in and let me know what you find."

* * *

Liara opened the hatch, stepped inside, and stopped. She was standing on a walkway that curved around the circumference of the chamber. In front of her was a bridge that led to another circular walkway inside the outer one. Inside that was another, and another. The rim of each walkway was lined with cryogenic tanks, like a ring of coffins standing shoulder to shoulder. From the top of each came a bundle of cables and tubes. Overhead, these joined together, like streams into a river, flowing toward the center of the chamber.

Liara stepped up to one of the tanks. It was dark, but she could make out a humanoid form inside. She touched the control panel, and a list of unintelligible abbreviations and numbers appeared. She held her omni-tool up to the tank.

"Liara?" Feron's voice said.

"There are tanks here. This one contains an Asari." Liara looked up. Above her was another tier of concentric walkways, also lined with tanks. There were more levels of the same below. "There must be thousands of them."

"A prison?" Feron said. "Shit. Khalisah screwed up. All those tanks should be drawing power, not generating it."

Liara pointed her omni-tool at the cables emerging from the top of the tank. "The tank itself is drawing power, but..." She began walking over the bridge, toward the center of the ringed walkways. Ahead was an opaque cylindrical chamber, from the top of which sprouted a tree trunk of cables and pipes. That was where the power output was coming from. As Liara approached the hatch, she drew her pistol.

She opened the hatch. Inside, an Asari in a lab coat was standing before a bank of consoles. She turned and saw Liara. Her skin was lighter than Liara's, almost aquamarine, and her only markings were arcs of small indigo flecks above her eyes. She spread her hands, palms out. "Dr. T'Soni! Don't shoot. You know me."

Liara stepped into the room, the hatch cycling shut behind her. She didn't lower her pistol. "Dr. Thanoptis?"

The other Asari nodded. "I figured you'd find your way here eventually."

"What is this place?"

"The power plant, of course."

"How does it work? And why are you here?"

"I'm a neurospecialist, remember? And this is the most amazing application of neurotechnology I've ever seen. Although it could be a little more humane, of course."

"Explain."

Thanoptis began pacing around the room. She seemed to have forgotten Liara was holding a pistol on her. "This whole base is controlled by the mind of a single Asari. They grow clones of her - that's what's in those tanks outside - and she's able to draw on their combined biotic power."

Liara said, "Biotic power cannot be pooled that way. Biotics of all species have been trying for millennia."

"But these people have done it." Thanoptis was as happy as if she'd done it herself. "If the two minds are identical, their biotics operate on the same wavelength, so to speak. They reinforce one another, instead of canceling out."

"What people?"

"I don't know - some pre-Prothean civilization." Thanoptis waved it away. "That's your area, I guess. I'm here to study the neuro-interface tech. It's fantastic. Obvious, in retrospect, but we would never have - "

A horrid thought jumped at Liara. "Was it built by the Reapers? Have there been any signs of indoctrination?"

"What? Goddess, no. I never want anything to do with that again."

"But you are not here by choice," Liara said. Her pistol lowered to point at the floor in front of Thanoptis.

Thanoptis looked at her feet. "Well...not entirely. They just told me it was a research opportunity. After that mess on Virmire, I had trouble finding work."

Liara holstered her pistol. "After they learn what they want to know, they will kill you."

Thanoptis' eyes were forest green, and very wide. "I know. That's why I'm glad you're here. There were security cameras in that supply room, you know. I cut the power to them."

"This Asari, who controls everything," Liara said. "She is not here by choice either, is she?"

Thanoptis looked away. "No. I don't know how they captured her. She's the strongest biotic I've ever seen. She has to be, to channel so much power. Her clones...burn out a lot. They have to keep growing more."

Liara folded her arms, fighting down the urge to take her pistol and club Thanoptis with it. "Where is she?"

"Right here." Thanoptis turned to one of the banks of consoles. Behind it, a hatch opened in the floor. Another tank rose from within.

Liara stepped around the console and approached the tank. Unlike the ones outside, it was lit. The Asari within...

Tubes were inserted into her naked body in at least a dozen places. Her eyes were closed, though they were moving rapidly under the lids, and a breathing mask covered her face.

But Liara recognized the markings.


	22. Chapter 22

Liara turned to Rana. "We must get her out of there."

"We can't," Rana said. "The barriers outside will shut down. We'll be crushed."

"Liara?" Feron's voice said. "We're going to have company."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah." His rifle cracked. "I'm sorry, Liara. They figured out something was up. I've got cover, but there's going to be way too many of them."

Khalisah's voice cut in. "T'Soni? I'm watching the surveillance network. They're moving Shepard's body toward a lift. It goes up to the platform where the Collector ship is docked."

It is up to me, Liara told herself. One thing at a time.

"Feron, open Adessa's cell."

"Already d- "

"Liara?" Adessa's voice said.

Liara thought, if she learns her daughter is here, she will die trying to reach us. "Get to the ship," she ordered. "Khalisah, find her a path through the security patrols."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Khalisah said. "Most of them are headed your way anyway."

"You're going to need my help," Adessa said.

"That is an order, Miss T'Anassi."

It brought a silence. "Very well."

Liara said, "Feron, hold them off as long as you safely can, then fall back inside."

"Yes, ma'am." Despite everything, Liara smiled, knowing he said it to reinforce that she was in charge.

Liara beckoned Rana to the tank where Missa T'Anassi lay entombed. "Does she have a control chip?"

"Yes."

"Shut it off."

"She might drop the barriers," Rana said.

"No, she will not." Liara studied the tank's controls, then pressed a key.

The medi-gel solution drained out of the tank. The clear cover swung open, slowly, with a hiss. The body within twitched as stimulants were automatically injected. The eyelids struggled open, the eyes unfocused.

Liara leaned forward and put her hands on the woman's face. "It is all right," she said, as much to herself as to Missa. "I am here to help. You will not be hurt any more."

The dark violet eyes fastened on Liara's. Behind them, Liara knew, were things that would give her nightmares forever.

"Embrace eternity," Liara said, and walked under the surface of the black water.

* * *

Liara was standing at the intersection of two hallways that stretched forever into the distance. The hallways were lined with closed doors, old-fashioned wooden ones that swung on hinges. The doorknobs were polished brass. Their shape was familiar. She walked toward one at random and opened it.

It was an operating room, cold and white and spotless. Several figures, shrouded by gowns, caps, and masks, were standing around the table, upon which lay a long, flat, closed box.

Liara stepped forward and pushed between the surgeons. One turned to her. Above his mask, his eyes glowed an unnatural blue. His gown was spattered with blood - red, human blood, and in his right hand was a wet red knife. "You call me a traitor," he said, "but many a thousand will call me a deliverer, that went down into hell to save them." Behind his mask, he smiled.

Across from Liara was an Asari, with forest-green eyes and small red flecks above them. She held a syringe with a long silver needle. It, too, dripped red. "There are some would say it was war," she said, "with all in, so that each side struck as best it could."

Next to the Asari was a figure that stood head and shoulders over her, its gown fitting it poorly. Over its mask was a row of glowing yellow disks. The mask moved as it chittered at Liara. Somehow, she could understand it. It said, "You were too soft for the job. You are the wrong sort for such work."

There was a scratching sound. It was coming from inside the coffin. Horrified, frantic, Liara tore open the lid. Inside was not Shepard, but Missa. She sat up, wires and tubes trailing from her. "I am sorry," she said.

Before Liara could ask her why, Missa grabbed the syringe from Thanoptis. Liara had time only to see a flash of metal as she plunged it into Liara's forehead. The world seemed to shatter around her.

She was standing in the intersection between the two hallways again, but now she could see down all of them at once, as if she were looking through a fisheye lens. All of the doors swung open. Through them, she could see every part of the Broker's base. Feron, leaning out of cover to down another attacker, his own kinetic barriers flickering wildly as more and more lines of fire converged on him. Adessa, smashing two guards against a bulkhead with a biotic wave as she made her escape, leaving broad smears of blood. Missa is interfaced with the surveillance network, Liara realized. That is what I am seeing.

She found what she was looking for - the door beyond which the Collectors were loading Shepard's body onto the lift that would take it up to the surface, to their ship. The other doors spiraled away on all sides as she raced through it.

"Liara?" Kate said.

Liara was standing on the cliffs over Dover Beach. The sea was hidden by mist, but she could hear the waves washing over the shore. Kate was standing next to her.

Liara forgot it wasn't real. She forgot everything. Her arms reached out. But Kate backed away from her. She was looking out to sea, her blue eyes wide, a look on her face of something Liara had never seen there: fear.

"Liara, don't let them get me," she said, never taking her eyes from the mist. "Please."

"Who?" Liara said.

As if in answer, something huge and black began to take shape in the fog, as if forming from it. It was crisscrossed with glowing eyes whose light flickered within the mist, making flashes of purple, of orange. It opened a yawning mouth and a blast-furnace stench of rotting meat washed over them, flattening the grass and raising clouds of chalk dust from the edge of the cliff. Behind the vast black metal fangs, ready to spew forth like living vomit, waited a horde of Collectors, and other creatures, walking corpses and swarms of insects and horrors for which Liara had no name.

"No," Liara said. Her voice sounded strange, as if it were echoing from a dozen other mouths. "You will not take her." With each word, her voice expanded to a chorus, a crowd, a sea of people that would flood the canyons of a city, like the pictures she had seen after the great wars on Earth.

She lifted her arms. White flame wreathed her body, but it was more like a flare of liquid fusion from the surface of a star than a biotic corona. The rhythm of the ocean ceased as the waves retreated from the shore, leaving bare sand and rock that had never felt the air. As if the ocean were being sucked up into a gigantic straw, a swirling pillar of white water rose into the sky. The fog was sucked away with it, revealing the oncoming Reaper fleet that stretched to the far side of the Channel, which was now only a desert.

Liara upended the column of water and dropped it across the Reapers like a falling tree.

* * *

The world rocked underneath her. She was thrown to the deck, breaking the meld. Dimly, she heard Thanoptis scream, a thin wail that slowly became louder.

"Gods," Feron's voice said. "What did you do? They're running around like you stepped on the anthill." His rifle cracked, again and again, as he took advantage of it.

It took Liara a moment to remember how to speak. "I...I collapsed the barrier around the Collector ship."

Khalisah's voice joined in. "No shit. It just imploded like a rotten melon." She sounded as if she could cry. "Next time, warn me first so I can tape it."

"Never mind that," Liara said. "Where is Shepard?"

"Still sitting on the lift. There's about a dozen Collectors left. A couple of them stayed to guard it. The rest are headed your way, along with, I guess, everyone else in the damn place."

"Feron, get inside," Liara said. "Lock the outer hatch. They cannot use explosives on it, or they might kill some of the clones and collapse the barrier around the entire base."

"It's beginning to already," Rana said, standing at one of the consoles. As if to agree, the deck shuddered again. She grabbed the edge of the console to keep her balance. "The collapse caused a hull rupture, and the barrier isn't strong enough on its own. We're taking on water." Her voice was worried, but steady.

Liara turned back to the tank, trying to keep the fear out of her face. She placed her hand on Missa's forehead and briefly closed her eyes. "She is doing all she can," she said. "We cannot leave her down here. I need suggestions."

Feron walked through the inner hatch. He said, "That's not the mission. Getting Shepard is." He stopped as he saw who was in the tank. He blinked both sets of eyelids, then nodded slowly. If they left her behind, her mother would kill them when she found out, instead of the Broker.

Rana said, "I'll stay."

Liara and Feron both looked at her.

She was afraid, but she went on, "You can interface me with the collective. My wavelength is different, so I won't have as much control, but if I drop the barrier I can open a tunnel to the surface and hold it long enough for your ship to escape. You and Shepard saved my life when you freed me on Virmire. I owe you that much."

Liara shook her head. "I...appreciate it. But there has to be a better way."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Missa's breathing mask move.

"What?" Carefully, Liara removed the mask.

"Air." Missa's eyes were closed, her face taut with concentration. "In...storage..."

"You mean air we can force into the ballast tanks, so we'll float?" Feron said.

"Not ballast tanks," Rana said. "This was a space station. The Broker sank it down here after he realized the barrier was strong enough to keep the water out."

"Yes," Khalisah's voice said. "Compressed air. They would have had tons of it, in case of a hull breach."

The deck jolted under them again. As if in answer, a deep, metallic thud came from the direction of the outer hatch.

"Trying to batter their way in," Feron said. "Must still be waiting for the - " He walked out of the control room.

"Got it," Khalisah said. "In a storage bay near the bottom. Sending the coordinates."

"Just where we need it," Liara said. "Where is Feron?"

"Found some!" Feron said through her communicator. "Send your friend down here to help me."

* * *

Feron had dropped all the way to the bottom of the power plant chamber. He had a pair of plasma cutting torches and masks. He handed one of each to Rana. "Don't forget to bevel the edge," he said. "We want to close it up after me."

"Can we cut through the deck before they get through the hatch?"

He smiled. "The outer hatch, probably not. But they'll have to go through the inner hatch too, and it's heavier. Hopefully, with all those tiers of cryo-tanks above us, they won't notice us down here."

Rana decided not to ask any more questions.

* * *

A call came in to the control center. Liara keyed the channel open. "Yes?"

"This is Operative Bril. Open the hatch and come out, unarmed, and we won't kill you."

Liara said, "No. If you cut through the hatch, we will collapse the barrier around this base, just as we did to the Collector ship."

"Bullshit. You and that traitor are here for Shepard's body. You have no hope of getting it. Surrender and at least you'll live."

Liara muted the channel on her end. "Khalisah?"

Nothing. They had finally found the channel to the Aryera and jammed it.

"We have your ship, too," Bril said.

"No," Missa said. "Cut...power...lift."

That was something, at least. Liara unmuted the channel. "Bullshit," she said. "Be sensible. The Collectors are gone. Give us Shepard and safe passage out of here, and you can have your base back." She knew they would never honor such an agreement, but it would buy her time.

"Not enough," Bril said. "Credits. Ten million. Your pretty ship cost more than that."

Another lie. The haggling was just to help convince her.

"Ten million for a corpse?" she said. "One million, at most." Hurry, Feron.

* * *

"There," Feron said as he finished the cut.

Rana closed her eyes. White smoke undulated from her. With a sound like a giant clearing his throat, the disc they had cut in the deck began to slide out of its place. Feron touched the metal to make sure it had cooled enough, and then helped push.

He looked through the hole. "Looks like about ten meters down. Give me a lift, will you?"

She did, weaving a biotic field that let him glide gracefully to the nearest platform. She waited, but there were no shouts or signs of alarm. Feron was already gone. Carefully, Rana pushed the section of deck back into place. "Goddess help you," she said.


	23. Chapter 23

Feron made his way down to the storage bay without incident. Everyone was busy trying to break into the power plant or shore up the slowly failing hull. The bottom of the base was already a frothing, churning lake, fed by many waterfalls from high above. Several workers in diving gear were wading in it, trying to set up a pump. Feron guessed it would use compressed air to force water out through an airlock in the bottom of the hull. It would only delay the inevitable.

He raced into the storage bay Khalisah had found. The walls were filled with racks of compressed air cylinders like small logs. At the far end of the bay was an antigrav truck. Feron ran to it and jumped into the cab. He drove it forward, then backed it up to one of the racks. The truck's loading tractor eased one of the cylinders out of its rack and dropped it into the truck bed with a dull boom that rocked the vehicle. Feron widened the tractor to grab three cylinders at a time.

* * *

Rana was pounding up the thin metal staircase that joined the tiers of cryo-tanks in the power plant, two steps at a time, when she heard a long, irregular metallic groan. She froze.

It saved her life. Peering over the landing, she saw that the Broker's agents had finally forced the outer hatch. Two of them were sidling through, sweeping their heavy rifles to either side of the hatch, clearly expecting an ambush.

It came, but from a different direction. A circular, razor-thin biotic field arced from behind one of the tanks, neatly severing one agent's head and almost taking off the other's left arm. The latter managed to fire a shot before his rifle sagged to the deck in his now one-handed grip. It blew a jagged chunk out of the tank from behind which the attack had come. Wisps of smoke issued from blackened metal and melted plastic.

Rana had never seen combat, but she was far from stupid. She was nowhere nearby. She crouched behind a tank on the opposite side of the chamber, thinking, if I don't keep the way open to the escape route, we will never leave here.

More agents shoved through the hatch now, caution abandoned. Rana closed her eyes and concentrated. The air around the hatch began to swirl like water being sucked down a drain. Several agents were lifted off their feet and dashed against each other with a clatter of ceramic armor plates. Then they screamed, briefly, as the singularity's savage gravity smeared them into paste. Their armor crumpled as if made of paper.

That turned out to be a mistake. Outside the hatch, an enemy biotic - prudently hanging back while the grunts went in first - fired a burst of dark energy at the singularity, detonating it. Several cryo-tanks were reduced to slag. Another agent was blasted to a red smear across the deck. The bulkhead around the hatchway split and peeled back with a shriek of tortured metal, widening the entrance and allowing more attackers inside.

Rana's body flickered with white fire yet again. A severed coolant line suddenly reared like a snake and sprayed two agents in the face with gouts of steaming green liquid. The plastic viewports in their helmets hissed as the toxic substance ate into them. Blinded, panicked, one of them began shooting wildly in an effort to stop the jets of fluid that were still splashing him. He shot his fellow victim in the leg before another agent clubbed him unconscious with the butt of her rifle.

Rana took advantage of that distraction to tip over a tottering cryo-tank nearby. One agent saw it coming and leapt out of the way, but another was knocked down and had his legs pinned under the mass of metal.

Rana slowly retreated toward the control center, camouflaged from the agents' omni-tool sensors by the haze of life signs from the tanks all around her. Grimly, the remaining agents fanned out to hunt her, tank by tank and level by level.

* * *

Feron loaded the truck as heavily as he dared, then drove it out of the storage bay. It lurched along, the antigrav unit nearly overloading, scraping the deck with hideous metallic squeals, then splashing into the water.

The workers looked up as the truck approached. One of them, a heavyset salarian, said, "Good. We're not ready for the air yet, but you can help us get the pump set up."

"Get that pump out of the way, and open the inner airlock hatch," Feron said. "I'm going to blow the world's biggest bubble under us."

The salarian shook his head. "The air will just go around the hull."

"Not if we adjust the barrier to trap it."

"We can't. Some lunatic is holed up in the control room and they can't get in." He frowned. "Wait a goddamn minute." His hand went for the pistol at his side, but he was laden with gear. Feron was faster, unslinging his Viper as he leapt from the truck cab to a nearby catwalk. At his orders, the workers threw their weapons into the water, then moved the pump out of the way.

He gestured the salarian toward the truck. "Load those cylinders into the airlock. Try anything, and I'll shoot one. Should be a hell of a show." He smiled, as if looking forward to it. The salarian scrambled up into the cab.

The truck's loading tractor pushed the cylinders out of the bed and into the waiting airlock. The workers, recognizing Feron's plan as their best hope, crowded around to help guide them into place and pack in as many as possible.

The inner hatch hissed shut. "Okay, Liara," he said. He waited for her acknowledgment, then gestured to one of the workers, who opened the outer hatch. The hull rang as water flooded the airlock and the cylinders sank, clanging against one another. When the worker saw the last of them had cleared the airlock, he shut the outer hatch again and waved to Feron, who keyed his omni-tool.

Below, nitrogen and oxygen began venting from all the cylinders at once, forming huge bubbles that then merged into even larger ones. Lighter than water, they rose at once, only to meet the bottom of the hull. Still they slid upward, outward, following the path of least resistance, until they met the barrier, which Missa had extended to hang from the spherical hull like a skirt. Out of options, they simply continued upward anyway, now forcing the hull along with them, as they were joined by more and more pockets of air from the still-spewing tanks below.

* * *

The deck pitched so violently that Liara fell. She crawled to a nearby console, hauled herself upright with both hands, and waited for the shaking to stop. Instead, it got worse.

Bril's voice blared from the console. "What the fuck are you doing in there?"

Liara wished she knew, too. She lurched to Missa's cryo-tank. Missa's face was bathed in sweat, her lips drawn back from her teeth. Cords stood out around her neck. Of course, Liara thought. It is more work to keep the barrier intact with the base moving. She gripped Missa's shoulder. "Hold on," she whispered. "It will get easier. Your mother is safely aboard our ship. You will see her soon." She didn't know if Missa heard her, or even if she believed it herself.

She stumbled back to the console. "Stop shooting!" she ordered Bril. "The more tanks you destroy, the less chance we all have of survival."

"Tell that to your crazy bitch who just killed half a dozen of my men!"

The hatch whistled open. Liara turned, cursing; she had forgotten to lock it. Rana staggered through sideways before it was fully open, then locked it behind her.

"Are you all right?" Liara asked.

Rana nodded. "I'm...sorry," she said, panting. "Too...many of them."

"It is all right." Liara pointed to Missa's tank. "Remove whatever you safely can," she said. "We will have to move quickly when it is time."

* * *

Utha's sea glowed orange with sunlight from a low angle. A fish glided just under the surface, a long arrow of blue and silver, on the trail of a promising snack - a smaller fish nibbling at a lattice of algae. Suddenly its target twitched once and darted away. The fish's primitive brain warned that it had not been spotted - something else was going on. It might, itself, already be the prey. It angled away as if shot from a spear-gun. As it did so, it felt, rather than saw, the trouble. Below it, something moved, black and round and huge.

The fish was flung out of the water as the monster broke the surface with a roar. Clifflike sheets of white froth fell away from it on all sides. Below it, bubbles the size of houses hit the surface and ruptured like bombs. The sphere rested briefly atop the gale of escaping air, then crashed back to the sea, ripples surging outward like rolling valleys.

The shimmering mass effect field that surrounded the sphere flickered and died. At once a small ship rose from its surface, like a fly that had realized it was sitting not on a rock, but a whale. But as the sphere began to settle in the water, the fly did not dart away, but hovered, waiting.

* * *

Liara knew it was coming, but she was still thrown across the control center, bouncing off a console and into a bulkhead. Her barriers barely saved her from being knocked unconscious. But now it was easier to get to her feet. The relentless shuddering had been replaced by a cacophony of ominous groans and creaks that echoed all around them.

"We're sinking," she said. She had to try again before the words made any sense.

"And breaking up." Rana's voice was a moan. As if in answer, there was a distant thunderclap of rending metal, and the deck vibrated under them.

Liara pointed to Missa's cryo-tank. "Finish unhooking her. And do not be afraid. We are all leaving." She turned to the console and keyed a command.

Rana darted a glance at the hatch, but obeyed. At last Liara pulled Missa's unconscious body from the tank and draped her over one shoulder. They went to the hatch, guns drawn.

But there was no need. Liara had opened all of the cryo-tanks. Many of the clones had died, their tanks destroyed in the fighting, or their nervous systems overwhelmed by the effort of holding the hull together as it rose through the sea. But others had clawed their way out, ripping free of their tubes and wires. Their control chips were quiet, with no one left to send orders. Shadow Broker agents who couldn't run fast enough died screaming, biotically crushed and mangled.

"- you copy?" Khalisah's voice said. The jamming must have stopped. "Liara! Come on, T'Soni, don't leave me hanging. Do you copy?"

"I am here," Liara said. "Did Adessa make it?"

"She's hurt, but she's on board." Khalisah said. "We're just waiting for you and Feron."

Liara keyed Rana's omni-tool to the Aryera's channel. "Find Dr. Thanoptis a path to the ship," Liara ordered. She shifted her burden to Rana's shoulder and added, "She has Adessa's daughter."

Rana gave her a look. "I'm not going to ditch her."

Liara remembered Rana's offer to stay behind, and was ashamed. "I am sorry."

Rana's mouth twisted in a smile. "Forget it. Where the hell are you going?"

"After Shepard," Liara said. "Go." Rana jogged toward an open lift, swaying under the weight of Missa's body.

* * *

Liara ran for another lift, toward where she had last seen Shepard. The lighting was failing, as power conduits were cut and reserves drained, but the growing rents in the vast hull were letting in shafts of light from outside. Some surviving personnel and escaped clones had made it to escape pods, and the cracks of explosive bolts were followed by the roars of igniting thrusters. Liara wondered how they would handle in an atmosphere, and hoped not to have to find out.

"Feron?" Liara said. "I need your help. Where are you?"

Silence. Her pace slowed.

"Feron?"

"I'm here," he said through her comm. She slumped with relief. He went on, "I'm on my way to Shepard's body. Meet you there."

"Understood." Liara hopped into the lift and touched the controls. The lift shot into the air, screaming along its track, out of control. Liara yelled in terror and fastened herself to the guard rail. Other platforms blurred past. She closed her eyes, but couldn't stop the horrid gyrations of her stomach.

The lift hit the top of its track with a screech, stopped only by the safety catches. Liara flipped over the guard rail and slammed onto her back atop the platform. Moaning, more from sickness than the impact, she rolled onto her hands and knees and fought her way upright.

On the far side of the platform lay a Collector, its smashed head in a pool of purple blood and its weapon missing. Next to it, forgotten, was the long, flat stasis crate.

Liara ran to it. She slipped on the wet floor and her feet shot out behind her and she fell again, cracking her chin and chipping a tooth. Later, she wouldn't remember it. She got up again, ran, fell to her knees in front of the crate, her hands reaching across its smooth black surface to make sure it was really there. She realized she was trying to get her arms around it, as if it really was Kate, and not her empty shell.

She looked up, through a rift in the hull to the midnight blue of Utha's sky at dusk, the first stars showing. Tears ran down her face, unnoticed. Then the stars were drowned out by blinding white searchlights. Squinting, she could make out the shape of the Aryera behind them. She put her arms over her head and waved. Then she shoved at the crate, pushing it across the platform until it was in the Aryera's reach.

At Liara's insistence, the Aryera's tractor fastened on Shepard first. She watched, her whole body a single tensed knot, as the crate ascended the invisible column. Only when it vanished through the atmosphere-retention field of the Aryera's hold did she breathe again. She laughed, giddy. Even if she didn't make it out, she would die content. She had won. Shepard was safe.

She realized there were other people on the platform with her now. They were more of Missa's clones, about a dozen of them. One of them stepped forward, the others close behind her, eerie in their sameness. "You're not one of them," the woman said.

Liara realized she meant the Broker's people. "No."

"Take us with you," another said, her violet eyes wide. "Please. The escape pods are gone."

"Khalisah?" Liara said.

"I see them," Khalisah said. "All of you link up - we don't have time to do this one by one."

"Feron," Liara said, suddenly realizing he was nowhere in sight. She passed Khalisah's order to the other Asari. One had a coil of cable, and each of them quickly looped some of it around one forearm and held on with both hands. When they were ready, Liara waved to the Aryera. She stepped back as the tractor lifted the clones into the air, one after another.

"Liara?" Khalisah said. "What are you - get into the tractor."

Liara ignored her. "Feron?" she said, her voice sharp with fear.

"Liara," he said. But he was speaking through her comm again.

She clapped a hand over it, though it was buried under her skin, as if it could somehow bring him closer. "Where are you?"

"Khalisah says she has you and Shepard. I'm sorry, Liara. There was never any way for me to get to you. I had to make sure you didn't waste time coming after me."

Liara's heart seized, her triumph forgotten. "No," she whispered. "Feron, no - "

"I made it to an escape pod, but it was damaged during launch. I can't make orbit, but I should be able to set it down somewhere."

"We will track it and come get you," Liara said. She stepped into the tractor, cursing herself for the delay she had caused, not even noticing the water that was now lapping at her shins.

"We can't," Khalisah said. "We have ships inbound, and they're talking on the Broker's frequencies. In a minute they'll be on top of us. Liara, we've got to go."

Liara shook her head, denying, as she rose into the sky alone. Her chest was painfully tight. "Feron - "

"Liara," he said. "What you did for Shepard - " there was a burst of static, maybe because the Broker's ships were jamming him, maybe because he was too far away in the haze of Utha's radiation. Then she heard, "-thing to believe in."

"I will find you," she said. Her eyes stung, and she bit her lip hard enough to taste blood. "I found her and I will find you." But there was no reply.

She was still saying it, frantic for an acknowledgment - for absolution - when she felt hands pulling her out of the tractor beam. It was Missa - one of her, anyway. Below, Liara could see only black water. Then the hatch closed.

The Aryera rocked as it began taking fire from the Broker's ships. Numbly, Liara staggered forward, to the cockpit. Rana was piloting, her hands a blur of motion. Disdaining evasive maneuvers, she pointed the Aryera's nose at the sky, engines opened wide as she clawed for altitude, threatening to overload the motion dampers. Next to her, Khalisah was plotting an FTL jump.

Liara sank into an empty seat, turned to the aft visual display, watched the planet fall away beneath them. The memory of Virmire came unbidden. Kate never called it by name, referring to it only as "that planet". Though she never admitted it to anyone but Liara, the pain was too great.

We are all leaving. Liara rested her face in her hands, trying to blot the words out. She couldn't even cry. Crying would have been easier.

She felt something brush her arm, and saw Missa sitting next to her, looking out the viewport as the stars became white lines as the Aryera made her escape. Rana slumped in her seat, bathed in sweat. Khalisah squeezed her shoulder, showing her even white teeth in a huge smile.

Missa's chest began shaking, but she didn't make a sound. Slowly, she leaned over, rested her head on Liara's shoulder.

"Is it really over?" she asked, her voice brittle.

It brought Liara back. "Yes." For you, at least.

Missa closed her eyes. "Thank the Goddess for you," she said.


	24. Chapter 24

The white lines shrank back into stars. Khalisah had plotted a micro-jump, just enough to get them away from Utha. She turned in the pilot's seat. "Course?"

"Omega," Liara said. "And send a message to Cerberus." She keyed her omni-tool and sent the frequency to the comm console. She wasn't up to talking to Miranda right now. "Tell them to have someone meet us there."

Khalisah began plotting the course, but she said, "Is that safe? Feron told me what happened."

Liara closed her eyes and said, "I am not afraid of Aria. Or of Cerberus."

Khalisah smiled. "After this, I suppose not. Course laid in. Message away."

Liara didn't hear the last words. She was out.

* * *

Liara awoke with a start. She was still in the cockpit. Someone had put a blanket around her. Khalisah dozed in the pilot's seat. Liara stood, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and went aft to the med-bay.

Adessa lay on the only bed, an oxygen mask over her face. A sheet covered her below the neck, rising and falling steadily. The normally faint antiseptic smell of medi-gel was strong; she must be slathered in it. Her armor lay discarded in pieces in one corner. The blast and burn marks on it told what had happened to her.

Several of Missa's clones - Liara had no way of telling the original, as they wore identical jumpsuits from the Aryera's stores - had crowded in, but they parted at once to let Liara through. Rana Thanoptis sat by the bed. "I've done what I can, but I'm no trauma surgeon," she said.

Shame washed over Liara. She had been napping while Rana fought to save her friend's life. "Will she make it?" she asked. She thought, I can't bear any more death.

"I think so, but I wouldn't waste any time getting her to a hospital."

Liara nodded. She thought of the first time she set foot on the Normandy, cut and bruised in the collapse of her dig site, exhausted and dehydrated from her long imprisonment, and wished they could take Adessa to Dr. Chakwas. She said, "Does she know..."

Rana shook her head. "She was out when I came aboard. I told her, but I don't think she heard."

One of the clones said, "Missa - " she glanced to her left - "said this is her mother, but we don't have her memories - or any memories. They - imprinted us with biotic training. We learned language by listening to them. They didn't give us names."

Rana looked down.

Liara remembered something she had said to Kate on Noveria: a child left alone in a closet until she is sixteen would not be sane. She only said, "Adessa will take all of you in as her own." Of that, she was sure.

Another clone shrugged. "I know what a mother is, but I don't know what it is to have one."

Liara smiled. "She will show you."

The clone said, "Couldn't you?" A couple of the others nodded.

Liara's eyes stung. She said, "Well, maybe I can help."

* * *

They docked the Aryera as close to the clinic as they could. A few Blue Suns watched them cross the slums, pushing the long flat stasis crate and the stretcher, but no one volunteered to take on a dozen Asari commandos. No doubt the Broker would learn of it, despite Aria's vigilant efforts to keep Omega free of his agents, but he certainly didn't have enough strength here to do anything about it.

The clinic guards recognized Liara, but they still scanned the crate to make sure it contained no weapons. The red eyes of two YMIR mechs watched, guns ready. The rest of Liara's party was allowed inside after Dr. Solus vouched for her, though Khalisah had to turn off her omni-tool recorder, and the clones stayed in the waiting room. They were in a state of childlike wonder at a galaxy they had seen only through their basic imprinting. The last thing Liara wanted was for them to get an unsupervised education on Omega.

Liara, Missa, Rana, and Khalisah walked down the corridor. They heard Dr. Mordin Solus before they saw him. " - more rest. Turian bones heal quickly, second only to krogan. However, also more brittle, especially after fracture."

A familiar voice said, "Doc, the legs feel fine."

Solus and Garrus both looked up as Liara entered. Garrus would have slid off the exam table if not stopped by a sharp look from Solus. He sighed and let Liara come to him.

"Careful," Solus said. "Sternum and rib fractures still healing as well." But the caution was unneeded. Liara put her arms lightly around Garrus and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You made it," Garrus said. "This does more for me than even Dr. Solus could. No offense, Doc."

"None taken," Solus said. "Emotions a crucial part of the healing process." He nodded to Liara. "Dr. T'Soni. Good to - " Then he saw Missa and the stretcher she pushed in. He hurried over, gently pulled down the sheet. "Hm. Multiple gunshot wounds. Also lacerations, presume caused by biotic attack." He sniffed. "My apologies. This cannot wait." He was already pushing the stretcher into the decontamination chamber. He continued his examination of Adessa's injuries even as the white light washed back and forth over the two of them, then continued into the operating room.

* * *

While they waited, Miranda arrived. Liara half-expected to see her boss with her, but instead there were a muscular, dark-skinned man with the air of a soldier, and a lighter-skinned man who unfortunately reminded Liara of Harkin. All wore nondescript civilian clothing. The soldier waited by the doorway. Miranda nodded to Liara, but walked at once to the empty laboratory where she saw the stasis crate, the other man in her wake.

"Nice to meet you, too," Garrus said.

Liara followed Miranda as well. The man with her was saying, "I need a quantum imager." He glanced around, spotted the machine, and wheeled it over. When Liara set up the meeting, she let Solus know the Cerberus people needed to use his equipment for a preliminary evaluation, and he agreed, no doubt hoping to learn what he could from it.

The man moved the machine's arm to position the scanning dish over the crate, then began working the controls. Liara saw at once he didn't like what he saw. She closed her eyes. Goddess, let there be a chance. I chose an empty shell over a living being. Tell me I did the right thing.

To her surprise, Miranda put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever happens...I'll admit it, T'Soni, I'm impressed. The boss was right to come to you."

Liara shook her head. "I wasn't good enough. If I were, Feron would be here now."

"He was expendable. So were you. So am I. Shepard is all that matters."

Liara said nothing, understanding Miranda was trying, in her way, to comfort her.

The man took a step back from the machine. "Okay. I have an image." Liara understood why he hesitated. Her heart hammered and her knees felt like water. She knew she needed to look.

Miranda put her other hand on Liara's other shoulder and gently, but firmly, turned her away.

Liara resisted. "I have to."

Miranda's voice was surprisingly gentle. "No, you don't. It won't make any difference to the prognosis. And it won't mean you loved her any less."

That undid Liara. Her hands came up to her face and felt the warmth there and the tears forced their way out of her. She didn't want to, not here, but she couldn't help it. She cried, for Kate, for Feron, for the happy young maiden who almost had a storybook bond ceremony on Earth in the autumn.

Missa rushed in, and, not understanding, cast an angry look at Miranda before leading Liara out of the lab and into an empty exam room. She let Liara rest her head on her shoulder, but Liara was already regaining control. "It is all right," she said shakily.

She and Missa went back to the waiting room and an anxious Garrus. "I'd have gotten up and walked in there and to hell with everything," he said, "but your friend here - " he glared at Missa - "said she'd put me in a singularity if I tried it."

Liara smiled, finally feeling as if some of the weight that sat on her chest since Kate died had shifted. "I have good friends."

* * *

As it happened, Solus and Miranda returned at the same time. Miranda glanced at him, deferring. "Miss T'Anassi will recover fully," he smiled.

Missa slumped and let out a long breath. "Thank you, Doctor."

He went on, "Will need extended bed rest. Sustained numerous injuries - prior gunshot wounds, vehicular impact. Delayed proper treatment. But she will recover."

Miranda's mouth quirked. "I'm afraid we've all tried to kill her."

Liara said, "Then you will not try again?"

Miranda said, "You have the boss's word on it. We will try to recruit her again, but if she says no, we'll leave her be. Her, uh, daughters as well. She's repaid her debt."

Liara said, "What about...?" She couldn't finish. Her whole body tensed.

"The damage was worse than we feared, but Wilson - " she glanced at the man who had accompanied her into the lab - "believes Shepard is recoverable."

Recoverable. Liara closed her eyes. Goddess, I might have my Kate back. After all she'd been through, Liara wondered why she wasn't happier. Maybe she was still afraid to hope, or maybe she was just tired.

Miranda looked at Khalisah. "I trust you understand the necessity of forgetting everything you've heard here."

Khalisah's mouth thinned. "I saw what those things did. If you're fighting them, I won't do anything to undermine that." She brightened. "Besides, I have more than enough for my story. The heroic rescue of Shepard's body - and her private burial, don't worry - and the grieving mother's unexpected gift of, uh, duodecaplets. I'll probably get my own show."

Miranda nodded. She looked at Liara. "Rebuilding Shepard won't happen tomorrow. Half the technology is still on the drawing board. What will you do now?"

"Find Feron," Liara said.

"If the Broker found him..." Miranda shook her head. "Nonetheless, we can help you. You proved the Broker is working for the Reapers." She folded her arms. "There's only one answer to that."

"Yes." Liara wrote her first paper on the Protheans decades ago. Her mother's name was just enough to get it published. She presented a theory that was politely laughed at in the journals - and then promptly proven correct by a find made by the most respected Prothean archaeologist of the time. That was when she first had a sense of where she belonged in the universe. Where she could make a difference. Now she had it again. This was the war she could fight - not from the captain's chair of a ship, maybe, but as she'd told Miranda, putting the pieces together. Finding just where to strike.

Missa said, "I expect my mother will help you too, whether or not she goes back to Cerberus. So will I."

"Same here," Khalisah said. "Whatever I can pass along without endangering my sources."

So would Aria, Liara thought, once she reminded her the Broker was their common enemy. It didn't add up to much - not against the Broker's armies of spies and killers and his fleets of ships and bases - but it was a start.

"Thank you," she said to them. "I will not let you down."

* * *

Miranda and her two aides left with Shepard's body. Liara watched the crate until it was out of sight, struggling to hold back the feelings of emptiness. Mordin prescribed her a stiff drink, which she accepted gratefully.

Rana left with Miranda. Miranda had taken her aside and said, "From what we've heard, Dr. Thanoptis, you're just the sort of person Cerberus is interested in recruiting..." No doubt Rana's knowledge of neurotechnology would be useful in that project Feron mentioned, Liara thought.

Speaking of which, Liara said quietly to Miranda that her security might be compromised. The technology used to imprint Missa's clones was beyond anything she had heard of, and she didn't think it came from whoever built that base. Clearly they had biotics, but how could they anticipate a humanoid brain? Miranda didn't bother to deny that Cerberus did such research. She thanked Liara and said she would look into it.

Missa left to get herself, and her sisters, as she began to refer to them, rooms near the clinic. Khalisah boarded a shuttle back to the Citadel.

Finally only Liara and Garrus were left. They sat together, not needing to say anything, glad to be out of it for the moment.

Mordin walked slowly around the clinic, tapping at his omni-tool, which occasionally emitted an angry beep. Then he came over to them. "Dr. T'Soni. Just finished sweeping for bugs. Six total." He sniffed. "Anyway. Your friend Adessa is awake. Asking for you. Didn't want to say so earlier, with Cerberus listening."

Liara rose at once. "Yes. Thank you, Doctor." She hurried into Adessa's room.

* * *

Adessa no longer wore the oxygen mask, though she was hooked up to an IV drip and a number of machines. "T'Soni," she said, her voice a whisper.

Liara sat by her bed and took her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"You have to hurry," Adessa said.

She is delirious, Liara thought. She squeezed Adessa's hand. "It is all right. Your daughter is safe."

Adessa tried to shake her head, but winced with the movement. "Not that. My labs. Peak Fifteen."

"Your labs?" Liara frowned. "The virus?"

Adessa closed her eyes. "When the Collectors ambushed us. I thought we were dead. I...sent a message. Told her."

Liara stood, slowly.

She's repaid her debt.

The damage was worse than we feared.

"I'm sorry," Adessa said. "I am so sorry."

Liara was already gone.


	25. Chapter 25

Through the viewport, Noveria was the same marbled blue - cold and colder - Liara remembered. She said, "Approach Control, this is the Aryera, requesting a vector and a berth."

A harsh voice came from the comm. "Aryera, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."

She said, "This is Liara T'Soni, on business for Gianna Parasini of Noveria Development Corporation." She doubted they'd appreciate her mentioning Internal Affairs. She was through the cloud layer now, the Aryera buffeted by the eternal howling blizzard.

"Landing access granted, Aryera. Be advised we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded." The voice seemed to be looking forward to it.

Liara smiled. It was good to know some things never changed. "Acknowledged, Control."

The Aryera slid into one of the oval-shaped berths. It reminded Liara suddenly of the Prothean stasis pods on Ilos. The ship shuddered as the docking clamps closed on it.

She waited for the airlock to cycle. She could almost hear the Normandy's VI say, "Logged. The commanding officer is ashore. XO Pressly has the deck." With Kate in front of her, she had not been afraid, even knowing they might face geth, who had nearly killed her on Therum. She had not been afraid when they learned Benezia was here.

She was afraid now. She wished she had someone with her. But Feron was lost, Garrus and Adessa were hurt, Rana and Khalisah were gone, and Missa had been through enough. Then Liara squared her shoulders. I made it this far, she thought. Now I will finish the job.

She strode into the docking bay. She wasn't surprised to see Maeko Matsuo waiting for her. Matsuo was flanked by two armored figures with shotguns, though they pointed them at the floor.

"Captain Matsuo," Liara said.

"T'Soni-san," Matsuo said. "Welcome back to Noveria." A hint of a smile lit up her somber face. "You may retain your weapons." She nodded to the figure on her right. "Captain Sloan will guard your ship while you are here."

She saw Liara's surprise. "I am Port Hanshan's new administrator - thanks in large part to you and Shepard-sama."

Liara nodded. "That makes sense. You were a very conscientious officer." Not to mention one of the few who wasn't corrupt. "Congratulations."

Matsuo bowed slightly. "Thank you. Parasini-san is waiting for you upstairs. I will escort you."

Gianna was in the terminal, in front of the counter instead of behind it. She held her arms out and gave Liara a hug. Then she stepped back and said, quietly, "You found her."

"Yes," Liara said.

"It wasn't how you hoped. I'm sorry, Liara." She didn't know all of it, but she could see that much in Liara's face.

"No," Liara said. She did not want to tell the story. She said, "Adessa was hurt, but she made it. And we found her daughter." She owed Gianna that much.

Gianna closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm...glad for her."

"She told me, if I saw you, to say she was sorry. She will tell you again, if she sees you."

"Hm." Gianna said. "Well, we'll see." She smiled gently. "If you're just looking for a rest, you're welcome to stay with me, for as long as you want. Though your taste in vacation spots is on the masochistic side."

"Thank you," Liara said, "but I must get to Adessa's laboratory. The virus..." She didn't say how anyone might know about it. As angry as she was with Adessa, she didn't want to make Gianna any more so. She wanted someone to come out of this with some hope of getting her life back.

Gianna's mouth thinned and she glanced at Matsuo. "I sent a team out there before I even got back," she said. "We think their shuttle reached Peak 15, but they haven't reported in. That's probably because of the storm, though. We can't even contact them, let alone send anyone after them."

In her mind's eye, Liara saw the labs crawling again with geth, Rachni, and viruses. Goddess knew what horrors Adessa had concocted there, besides the Collector plague, in her blind pursuit of vengeance. "Was anyone else there, before you sent the team?" she said.

Gianna shook her head. "Not that I know of. Adessa had the place to herself. It had a reputation even before the last incident. After that, no one else in Binary Helix wanted anything to do with it."

Liara thought. Gianna should have reached the Citadel - and sent her message - at about the same time Adessa sent her message to Miranda. Liara had assumed that Miranda came to Noveria herself. But if she went to Peak 15, she could not leave until the storm abated, which would prevent her meeting Liara on Omega.

"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?" she said.

Gianna looked at Matsuo. "Not a soul," Matsuo said. "Dead quiet."

That didn't make sense. Unless - "Could a stealth-capable ship land directly at Peak 15?"

Gianna frowned. "Like the Normandy?" She shook her head. "Even if it were cloaked, the defense grid would pick up the ionization trails when it entered the atmosphere."

The man behind the counter - presumably, Matsuo's assistant - spoke up. "Didn't the grid overload a few days ago?"

Matsuo said, "Yes, but that was just a solar flare. We get them every so often. Triggers a lot of false alarms, and we have to reset the grid. It only takes about twenty minutes."

Liara looked at Gianna. "Enough time to land a small ship, given a skilled pilot. And the entry could be disguised by the false alarms."

Matsuo shook her head. "Very unlikely. But I will check the logs, just in case."

"Thank you," Liara said. "I must go to Peak 15."

Gianna snorted. "Forget it. No one's going in or out of there."

"We reached it last time," Liara said.

"This is worse than last time. Even a Grizzly might not make it. You could be blown right off a ledge."

"I have to," Liara said. "As soon as the storm lifts, the intruder could be gone. I cannot allow that."

Gianna looked at her. "I suppose there's no way I can stop you," she said at last. "All right. On one condition. I'm driving."

* * *

Hours later, Liara was regretting her decision. She was too worried to eat since leaving Omega, but she threw up anyway. Gianna, apparently, had a cast-iron stomach, though she was kind enough not to rub it in.

The Grizzly fought across the Aleutsk Valley in a white hell of bouncing, stalling, and skidding, punctuated by the occasional heart-stopping near slide off of a ledge when the wind took hold of it. Visibility was zero; Gianna drove by instruments only. All Liara knew were the endless sickening gyrations; after a couple of glances at Gianna's console, she decided ignorance was the lesser of two torments.

To her amazement, a transmission came in. It must have found its way through a freak gap in the storm. She moaned at the idea of talking to someone, but she knew Gianna mustn't be distracted. She keyed her omni-tool to receive.

Fortunately, it was just a recording, sent in a burst so it needed only an instant to reach them. Still, the sender had probably been repeating it for hours. Liara slowed it down until she could make it out. Despite its brevity, it was peppered with static.

It was Matsuo. "I checked sensor logs. They did...solar flare at the ti-...grid overloaded. However, sensor data appear...-pered with...checked with monitor stat-...on Morana and it confirms no..." The message ended.

Liara swore, forgetting the awful state of her stomach for a moment. "Cerberus. They must have someone inside Port Hanshan security. They overloaded the grid and faked the sensor readings to cover it."

Gianna's mouth twisted. "Who doesn't have someone inside security? Matsuo's trying to weed out the worst of it, but she's new."

"This means we are likely walking into an ambush."

Gianna smiled. "For once, this storm helps us. I can't see five meters in front of this crate. They sure as hell can't see us."

Liara nodded. "Then perhaps we can ambush them."

"We'll know soon enough. I think that's it, up ahead."

* * *

This time, the garage entrance was unblocked. All the same, Liara got out of the Grizzly before Gianna drove it in. The frigid air of the Skadi Mountains swept away her nausea. She tilted her head back and gratefully breathed deep, letting the snow lash her face.

After the cramped, lurching Grizzly, the garage was pleasantly spacious and stationary. Two ships were already parked there. One, as Gianna said, was the shuttle from Port Hanshan. The other was small and sleek, with no markings, but...

"No guns," Gianna said, walking slowly around it with her omni-tool out. "Antigrav generators and motion dampers. Drive emission filters. And plenty of lithium - has to be internal emission sinks, for the stealth system. A textbook covert insertion craft."

Liara unslung her submachine gun. "Stay behind me."

They passed into the loading dock, staying close to the towers of stacked crates and skirting the blood-red pools of light from the hanging lamps above, but no geth waited for them this time. They climbed the stairs and followed the gantry to the security checkpoint with its inward-pointed turrets.

"Are they active?" Liara asked.

Gianna shook her head. "No power readings at all."

Liara hoped the facility hadn't been shut down again. But if the intruder had gotten here before the crew from Port Hanshan, he or she might well have done so to keep them out.

But the cafeteria was in better shape than she'd last seen it. The heat was on and the snowdrifts had been cleared. Best of all, no Rachni came bursting out of any ducts to charge at them, snapping and squealing.

"Still not reading any life forms," Gianna said.

They took the elevator up to Central Station. The power junctions were dark, as the turrets had been. They went forward to the VI core, circling the large chamber to the entrance on the far side. Mira was silent, her controls unresponsive.

"Purged?" Liara said, her voice hushed.

"I can't tell if the databases were wiped, just that there's no power to them," Gianna said.

They doubled back and turned right for the tram station. Liara liked the decontamination chamber, with its rows of plasma jets, even less than the turrets. As she stepped past each one, she tensed to leap away from a sudden gout of flame, knowing it was useless. But nothing happened.

To their surprise, the trams were running.

"The reactor must still be on line, at least. Did Adessa work in the secure lab or the hot lab?" Liara said.

"Had to be the secure lab," Gianna said. "She told me she refused to set foot in the hot lab. Called it a tomb."

Liara's mouth thinned. She might have known. "Very well." Still, it was a relief to leave the wide, desolate tram station. It reminded Liara of the spaceport terminal she had walked through with Kate to take the shuttle down to Earth. There should be people in it.

They stepped onto the tram to Rift Station. There was no announcement of their departure as the tram shuddered into motion.

* * *

At Rift Station, they found the crew Gianna had sent out.

"Goddess," Liara breathed. The station was a shambles. Crates and heavy equipment were upended. Chairs and tables were thrown about as if by an angry giant. The walls were scorched, pitted, and stained with blood. Bodies - and pieces of bodies - were strewn over all of it.

"That's all six," Gianna said, crouching beside one with her omni-tool, while Liara kept watch. The man had a fairly clean entry wound, but the back of his helmet - and his head - were scattered across the deck. His empty eyes were surprised, not afraid. It was doubtful he ever knew what hit him. "All of them killed by biotics, or headshots."

"Gianna," Liara said. "I need you to go back to Central Station. Go down to the reactor core and cut the fuel lines. Then go back to the Grizzly. The instant you get clear, start transmitting the word 'Cautery', until Port Hanshan acknowledges."

"No," Gianna said. Cautery, intended to halt the most lethal and virulent contagions, meant the immediate bombardment of Peak 15 with antimatter warheads from the space stations orbiting Noveria.

"We do not have time to argue," Liara said, trying to hold back her fear and anger. "Look at this place! If you stay, we will both die, and the last chance of keeping the virus from Cerberus will be gone. Then they will do exactly what Adessa planned to, and all of this will have been for nothing. But, with the trams out, I can make sure the intruder does not escape."

Gianna stood, slowly, seeming years older. Her face held pain, and acceptance. "Liara..."

Liara felt no fear of death, only of failure. Was this what it was like for Kate? For Kaidan, and Feron? "Gianna," she said gently. "Go."

With a last look over her shoulder, Gianna went.

* * *

Liara knew she should hide at the tram platform, or some other choke point, and wait in ambush for the intruder. That was the only hope she had of killing him, or her. Then she might still escape before the warheads hit.

But her feet carried her slowly, silently toward the security station, and through it to the elevator. She knew it was foolish, but she had to see the person whose death she had ordered with her own. As the elevator neared the bottom, she wove a biotic field that lifted her to the roof, out of sight of the hatch.

The hatch hissed open. No shot came through it. Liara hung there, sensing, but feeling nothing. She dropped, silently, gun ready. No one there.

She moved through the maintenance area, her heart hammering, hardly breathing, her senses stretched in every direction, knowing the likelihood of attack in the next instant increased with every step closer. Each hatchway was another silent ordeal.

Finally she was at the hatch to the secure lab, the neonlike red beaker flickering above it.

* * *

It was Benezia's death that brought Liara and Kate together.

The dying woman slumped against the bulkhead, leaving a broad indigo smear as she sank to the deck. Shepard and Liara both reached out to support her, getting their gloved hands sticky with blood.

"Mother..." Liara was not ready for this. All the things she wanted to say. All the missed chances, when she thought she had all the time in the world. A saying came to her, unbidden, one her mother had told her, long ago: wasted moments destroy your life, Liara, as much at the beginning as the end, but only at the end do you see it.

The worst of it was, this was a relief. Liara hated herself for thinking that. But watching Benezia die was less painful than watching her consumed from within, watching her twisted into something cold and hateful.

Her mother took her hand, her grip surprisingly strong, even as the life visibly left her. Good night, little wing.

Liara knelt there, sobbing, clutching the hand tightly in both of hers, long after it had let go.

An age later, she pulled herself to her feet. She realized it was Kate's hand helping her up. She had a glimpse of blue eyes, tears in them as well. Then they were in each other's arms.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Kate said. "I'm so sorry. I'm here and I love you and I won't go anywhere, I promise." It was the first time either of them had said it. Ashley, standing at a respectful distance, had to be surprised, but she said not a word.

* * *

Liara thrust the memories away. I will see you with the dawn, Kate. It will not be long now.

She wove a biotic curtain around the hatch to dampen the noise, then keyed it open, waiting to one side. Yes, she could sense someone now. On the far side of the lab. Calm, even serene, though the intruder had to know Liara was here. As to the identity...

It was...eerie, like having a dream about an old friend who was years gone, tinged with sadness and regret - and then waking up and realizing she had never known any such person at all. Liara probed harder, careless now of being caught. But, just as when trying to remember the unreal person in the dream, the details only retreated from her grasp and receded into the shadows of her mind.

Liara's curiosity and impatience overtook her fear. She walked forward, in plain sight, her footsteps echoing noisily on the metal grating. The figure stood in front of a console, facing away from Liara. It wore armor, but its shape - it was an Asari, or a human female. No, there was no helmet. The light glinted off strands of hair.

Liara lifted her submachine gun. "Turn around."

The woman did. She smiled. "Hello, Liara."


	26. Chapter 26

She walked down the stairs toward Liara. She had straight, jaw-length red hair and fair skin. Wide, almond-shaped blue eyes. Her slightly pouting lips wore a broad smile. She held out her arms.

She stopped, as if she'd walked into a wall, when Liara raised her Tempest again. "Who are you?" Liara said. "Is this some kind of joke?" It was a bit much, even for Cerberus. Liara promised herself they would soon get a lesson in dark humor.

The woman held up her slender hands, palms out. "It's all right, Liara. It's me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have surprised you like this." Seeing Liara's look of incomprehension, she added, "It's really me. Kate."

Liara stepped forward, every nerve in her body seemingly focused on her gun. The woman took a step back. "Shepard is dead," Liara said. "I saw her body."

The woman looked down. "I know. They told me about that. But you have to understand, it's me. The same person, the same memories." She folded her arms - which Kate did when she was nervous. "The same feelings, Liara."

Liara's gun lowered, just a little. "Who told you? Cerberus?"

The woman nodded.

"Did they say anything about - " Liara tried to remember what Feron had said - "Aquinas?"

Kate - Liara realized she was thinking of her as Kate - glanced away, thinking. "Not to me," she said slowly. "I think I overheard one of them say that. But then Lawson shut him up."

Liara's gun was pointed at the floor now. "What do you remember?"

Kate's smile was somehow full of sadness. "Everything except losing the Normandy. The night before Ilos. Kaidan's wake. Dover Beach."

Liara's mouth tightened. "This is...obscene. Those were her memories. Our memories. You - they stole them!"

Kate held her hands out. She always used her hands when she talked, Liara remembered, especially when she was upset. "They had to, Liara. How else could they bring me back?"

"They did not bring her back. You are a copy." Kate closed her eyes. Liara said, "How did they get the memories?"

Kate shook her head minutely. "I don't know." She took a step toward Liara. "I know this must seem very strange. I understand why you think these aren't my memories. But they're the only ones I have. Being Kate Shepard - and loving you - is all I know. Please believe me."

Liara looked at her a moment longer, then holstered her gun. "Whoever you are, you did not ask for this to happen to you."

Kate took another step closer. "Li...they told me we lost over twenty people with the Normandy. I woke up in a med-bay and found out everything I thought I knew was a lie, that I was...built by the same people who caused Akuze." She held her arms out again; there were tears in her eyes. "I haven't been able to talk to Ash, or Garrus, or anyone. You're the first one I - "

Then she was in Liara's arms. She buried her face in Liara's shoulder, and Liara felt strands of red hair tickling her neck. Her hair even smelled the same; it had the faintest scent of ginger. It all became real, and months of heartache were swept away as though they'd never been.

"It is all right," Liara heard herself say. Her fingers ran up and down Kate's back, though the other woman wore armor and couldn't feel it. But she felt Kate smile and knew she had noticed.

Kate let out an immense sigh that tickled Liara's head-tails. "I love you."

Liara found herself smiling and tears flooding her eyes at the same time. "I..."

"It's all right," Kate said. Her tone was wey. "It'll take some getting used to."

"Shep - Kate," Liara said. "Cerberus has the - the body. They are going to infest it with a virus from this laboratory, and use it to commit genocide."

Kate stepped back. Her mouth was a thin line. "I thought it was something like that. Who is it? The batarians?"

Liara shook her head. "It does not matter. We must leave. This place - all of Peak 15 - is about to be destroyed."

"And then what?" Kate said.

"What do you mean?"

"What happens when they can't use the body for this - plan?"

"I - " Liara stopped.

Kate nodded. "Then they'll try to fix it, instead. That's what you hope, at least." She folded her arms. "And what happens to me?"

Liara shook her head, feeling as though she were wading into dark water, unable to see the bottom. "Nothing. You will not be hurt."

"Nothing. Maybe I get donated to the organ bank. Who cares? You and Kate - the real Kate," she said, making quotes in the air, "get to go on with your lives."

Liara put her hands on her hips, an angry flush of indigo rising up her neck and into her face. "I would not just do that," she said.

"No?"

"No. If you think - " Liara stopped herself.

But Kate finished for her. "Maybe they screwed up, is that it? Didn't get the memories right after all? Well, I'm just the dry run. I'm sure they'll do better when they rebuild this precious corpse of yours."

"Stop!" It was a cry of pain.

Kate did, at once. She looked down and shook her head. "I'm sorry." She made herself look up at Liara. "I'm sorry."

"No, I am sorry," Liara said. "I spoke without thinking. I...somehow, we will work this out. Ka - " she stopped and raised her hands - "the other Kate will understand." A smile tugged at her mouth. "You should know."

Kate laughed, the way she used to. She shook her head. "Well, it'll be interesting."

Liara held out her hand. Kate took it. They walked like that, just as they had to Kaidan's wake, to the hatch.

And nearly walked into it. Liara frowned and touched the hatch control, but it only flashed red.

Kate brought up her omni-tool. "I shut down the security systems when I saw it was you. Must have missed something."

While Kate worked, Liara brought up her omni-tool as well. She scanned for something else. Her display flashed red.

"It will not open," Liara heard herself say, "because unrecognized pathogens are not allowed out of the laboratory without Privileged access."

Kate stopped and turned to her.

Liara held out her hand. "Give me the virus, Kate."

Kate took a breath. "I can't, Liara."

"Why?"

Kate lifted her right hand to her temple.

Liara's voice was numb with horror. "They put in a control chip."

Kate nodded. "I'm sorry, Liara. I have to give it to them. That's why they sent me here."

"That is why you killed the team Gianna sent."

"Yes," Kate said. "They wouldn't let me in."

"Kate," Liara said, feeling as though she were drowning and flailing for something solid to hold on to, "Cerberus must not get the virus. You know this."

"I...I - " Kate's face twisted, as if in pain. Her hand started to come up to her head again. Then it stopped. Her face cleared. "Don't try to stop me. Please."

Goddess, Liara thought, just like Benezia. I cannot watch this again. But she said, "I must and I will."

"Li..." Shepard's upraised right arm was wreathed in white flame. That was all the warning Liara got. She dove to one side, the biotic bolt missing her head so narrowly she could feel it tug at her head-tails. It struck a railing behind her; the metal snapped and twisted like a piece of wet string.

Liara's barriers were up now, her Tempest out and aimed. But still she could not bring herself to pull the trigger, not even at the woman who had just tried to kill her.

Biotics, Liara thought. Kate was no biotic. And control chips. And cybernetics? And what else? The person in front of her wasn't Kate. She was a prototype. If she succeeded, there would be more of her, thousands more. The real Kate would be forgotten. Instead of the galaxy's savior, she would become the face of its enslavement to Cerberus. That was what convinced Liara of what she had to do.

She slipped her finger through the trigger guard and pulled. The Tempest spewed flame. Shepard's barriers flared with the impacts. But then she moved, so quickly that Liara's stream of bullets couldn't follow her. She leapt, backward, onto a catwalk, unslinging and expanding her Widow as she did so.

Liara knew, barriers or no, she would be lucky to survive a single round from that thing. She ducked behind a pillar, just seeing with her peripheral vision the bloom of flame from the Widow. A few inches from her face, there was a shower of sparks. Bits of smoking metal clattered to the floor.

Now, while she is reloading. Liara leaned out of cover and hurled a biotic attack of her own up at the catwalk. Shepard was crouched behind a solid metal railing, and Liara didn't try to go around it. The biotic field struck it squarely, crumpling it like paper and knocking Shepard to her hands and knees.

Liara swept up a biotic field that lifted her onto the catwalk beside Shepard, landing as gently as if she had wings. Her foot lashed out just as Shepard came up to one knee and aimed again. The Widow roared as she kicked it. Its tongue of flame blackened the armor on her outer left thigh. Shepard sat down, planted one foot against a jagged outcropping of metal from the damaged railing, and pushed, her armor scraping on the grating beneath her as she slid back, out of reach. Her left hand came off the rifle's forestock, reaching for the lever to chamber another round.

At that instant, Liara wrapped another biotic field around the rifle and ripped it out of Shepard's right hand with such force that it flew over Liara's shoulder and disappeared from sight.

Shepard didn't even watch it fly away. She tucked up and rolled backward, ending up in a forward-leaning crouch, her whole body alight. There was no cover on the narrow catwalk, nowhere to dodge. Liara started to summon another biotic bolt, to interrupt what she knew was coming, but the constant effort had begun to tell on her, and she was too slow.

Shepard's biotic charge hit her like a runaway skycar, forcing her right through the railing. They fell, entwined, in a windmilling of arms and legs, and landed on a lower catwalk with a clatter of ceramic against metal.

The world spun around Liara, tinged with darkness. When she was able to focus, she found Shepard kneeling atop her. She giggled. She'd been here before.

Shepard's right arm was raised in the air, the air swirling and crackling around her gloved fist, which opened and closed, again and again. Liara's eyes struggled to stay open. When the blow fell, she would barely feel it.

Shepard's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Her teeth came together with a click, her lips skimming back from them. Sweat rolled down her face, and a vein stood out on her neck. Her right arm was still raised, a fiery axe waiting to drop.

"What?" Liara asked, her voice far away.

"Hurts," Shepard said. "It...hurts...when I...try to...Li..."

Shepard was supporting herself with her left hand, pressed against Liara's midsection, forgotten. Slowly, Liara's right hand came up and closed around Shepard's left wrist. Liara smiled.

Shepard's face spasmed as if she'd been stabbed. "I...won't...I..." Her whole body was shaking. The white corona around her raised hand broke apart, became wisps that curled away. Her eyes rolled up. Blood trickled from her nose, and then from the corner of her mouth. She collapsed atop Liara.

* * *

Thanks to Gianna's sabotage, the tram was out, but there was still an antigrav maintenance car. Liara shoved the stasis crate into the cargo bin, then slid into the seat and kicked the car to life. As she careened down the tunnel, she saw, in her mind's eye, the ionization trails of the antimatter warheads as they screamed down from the sky.

She drove the car out of the tunnel, across the tram terminal, down the long, narrow corridors, through the cafeteria. There was no one there to object. She didn't know whether Shepard was still alive, or could live, and didn't care. Her world had narrowed to a twisting path in a gloomy wood - or the deck of a burning ship - though which she would carry Shepard to safety.

The tiny craft in which Shepard arrived was designed for stealth. It would never survive the storm. Liara took the shuttle. Even flying that in the narrow Aleutsk Valley right now was suicide - unless she pointed it almost straight upward.

She was perhaps two kilometers up, still enveloped in the endless sea of snow, when the first warhead reached its target.

The shock wave struck the shuttle like a kick from a giant. The shields collapsed, the mass effect fields died, and half the displays winked out. The emergency antigravs hummed to life as Liara's hands flew over the console, fighting to keep aloft. By the time the other warheads began landing, she was out of danger, and had a moment to bring up the aft sensors. Only one was still working, but it was enough.

The blast had swept back the storm like the broom of a god. Peak 15 was no longer a mountain, but a blasted stump almost hidden in its own smoke. The snow and earth were stripped away for kilometers around, leaving only bare rock. The trees were burnt to pointed sticks, all lying down, pointing outward from ground zero in eerie concentric circles.

Then the hellscape whitened and vanished as the shuttle burst through the top of the cloud layer, and there were only stars above her. The console flashed a warning that the shuttle was not rated for non-atmospheric travel. Then a call came in.

"Shuttle AA-642, this is Port Hanshan, do you copy?"

Liara keyed the comm. "It is me, Gianna." She would have smiled, but she was too tired to feel anything. "I need you to meet me up here, in the Aryera."

* * *

Land for a burial plot on crowded Earth wasn't easy to come by, even in this remote place, but Anderson pulled some strings. Shepard's name was left out of it, and Udina quieted any rumors about the unusual grant by issuing a request for submission of proposals for the Shepard Memorial - to be built on Akuze. Anyway, the Battle of the Citadel was already fading in the public's always short memory.

Shuttles weren't allowed to land here, due to the pollution regulations. Liara landed at the trail head, miles below, the same one Kate took her to. She was alone for this trip, and yet she wasn't. The casket, on an antigrav sled, went ahead of her, up the winding dirt path, over grassy hills and then moss-covered rocks, across logs over white rivers.

It was the chance to say good-bye that she had not had. The open wound she had carried since waking up in the hospital, months ago, was healing. It was one thing to have Kate suddenly stolen from her, but now Liara had done everything she could to save her. If she had failed, at least she had tried and failed. She still dreamt about her, of course, every night. But the dreams were all on Earth, in the autumn, never on the burning Normandy.

Sunlight shone on her from a low angle when she finally put the casket into the stony earth. It was beside the lake where Kate's father took her fishing, where she and Liara came on their - honeymoon, Liara supposed was the word. It was the only one she might ever have. It would have to be enough.

She knelt in front of the gravestone, resting her arm on it, and her head on her arm. It wasn't for Kate, she knew now, just as Kaidan's wake wasn't for him. It was for her, for those left behind, so they could go on.

The lake lit to a sea of fire as the last of the sunlight blazed on it. Liara sat beside the grave, watching the fish jump and listening to the new leaves sigh in the wind, until the light was gone, then she lay back and looked up at the stars. She'd intended to pitch a tent, but the spring night was warm and she found she didn't need it, just her blanket to soften the ground, and her pack for a pillow. Sleep came easily.

* * *

The hatch hissed open and Lawson walked in. "There's been word?" she said.

The boss sat facing away from her, toward his dying star. The ashes of his cigar dropped unnoticed to the floor. That answered her questions.

"I'll proceed with Lazarus, then," she said. Unlike the loss of the original Shepard, there was no shame in this admission. She'd argued that the problems with Aquinas had been solved - at least, more so than the problems with Lazarus were likely to be. That the new Shepard would be better, thanks to the enhancements she'd made. She'd also argued for the control chip. The boss had agreed. It simply hadn't worked.

The boss just nodded. He knew, without looking at her, what she thought. No words were needed. She turned and walked out, her mind already on the task ahead. As she always did, she channeled the failure into a newfound determination. She would redeem herself with Lazarus. Shepard would be brought back just as she was when she died.

After she left, he continued to look at his star, unseeing. The message had come in on Shepard's special channel. It was only a few words. It wasn't from Shepard.

He wasn't intimidated, of course. Liara T'Soni couldn't touch him, not without the backing of either the Broker or the Alliance. She would hardly ask for the former, and she wouldn't get the latter, not as a nonhuman. Still, he knew when it made more sense to have someone as a friend than an enemy. And, after all, she'd told him what he needed to know.

* * *

Dr. Chakwas keyed off her omni-tool. "The control chip overloaded. She's as stubborn as Shepard, at least. Anyone else would be dead, or comatose for life. As it is..." She shook her head. "I repaired the worst damage, but the rest will take time. The basic functions are unimpaired, but much of the learning will be missing. Maybe all of it."

"That may be a blessing," Shiala said. "She can become her own person. Make her own way in the universe."

Shepard's chest rose and fell, the sheet that covered her moving with it. Her eyes were closed. Her face was more pale than fair, but smooth, clear of pain and fear now. Her red hair made a halo on the pillow beneath her head.

As Liara was burying the empty casket, Gianna went to Feros, bringing a stasis crate that, according to the manifest, contained experimental drugs, compliments of Binary Helix, for the survivors of the Thorian spores. With Shiala vouching for her, inspection was waived. The actual contents of the crate now lay in Shiala's spare bedroom.

At the same time, by order of Admiral Hackett, the Belleau Wood was detached from patrol duties for a brief stop at Zhu's Hope, where the chief medical officer could conduct follow-up tests on the colonists. The captain didn't quite buy that, but she was used to the Admiral's terse and sometimes mysterious demands, and the crew wasn't sorry to have the unscheduled shore leave. So she kept quiet.

"Should the chip be removed?" Liara said. She spoke to them over an encrypted channel from the cargo ship on which she had hitched a ride to Ilium.

Chakwas shook her head. "The power supply is drained. It's dead. Unless it causes problems, it's safer to leave it in than remove it."

"Thank you, Doctor," Liara said. "I would take care of her, but..."

"Forget it," Chakwas said. "Memory or no, she's a loose end. If they find her..." She shook her head. "She needs facial surgery, at a minimum. Change her retinal patterns, fingerprints, vocal chords. Re-seed her hair. Hell, make her wear nail polish. And she can't go anywhere near you."

"She will stay with me," Shiala said. "She will be safe here. Anonymous."

"She might not even know who she is when she wakes up, anyway," Chakwas said. "She'll be confused, and frightened."

Shiala put her hand on Chakwas' arm. "It is all right," she said. "I will take care of her." Half her mouth lifted in a smile. "I have learned something about overcoming trauma. I would like someone else to benefit from my experience."

The sun came over the window sill. A ray slipped through the curtains and lit Shepard's face, and her mouth twitched. She smiled in her sleep.

* * *

Liara closed the channel. On the datapad in front of her were reports, from the Citadel, from Omega, from a dozen other places. And from Cerberus, keeping their promise to help her hunt down the Broker.

She gazed, unseeing, out the viewport for a moment, then hid the reports and brought up the holo. It was blurry, out of focus, from Kaidan's wake. Liara, Kate, and Ashley were leaning together, arms around one another, smiling.

Liara smiled back at the holo, then closed it and began reading the reports.

* * *

Author's Note: I intended to have a sequel posted before ME3, but real life has gotten in the way of writing. I have several ME1/ME2 story ideas I want to work on before they are rendered non-canon by the Word of God, so I will not be playing or watching ME3 until I'm done with all of them. I'll just set my unopened copy here on the desk to remind me to keep going back to them when I have time. As always, my humble thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed.


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